


We don't wanna be like them

by SHADOWSQUILL



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Helping, Mental Breakdown, Misery, Social Difference, Violent boyfriend, alternative universe, homeless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:17:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9672485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHADOWSQUILL/pseuds/SHADOWSQUILL
Summary: It all started on December 24th, six years after she ran away from her abusive boyfriend. Rose Tyler lived in the streets with her little boy, and she ran into troubles. She hadn't expected that someone would show up and give her the help and gentleness she had so much needed in her life.





	1. Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted as two shots in [_Brèves de TARDIS_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8097367/chapters/18555853) (chapters 17 and 25), but I was asked to turn it as a series, and since there is gonna be a third part (if I ever find the time to write it), I decided to turn it as a whole story in here and to give it a proper title.
> 
> A/N: The characters and the universe don't belong to me. All rights goes to Russell T. Davies, Phil Collinson, Susie Liggat, Steven Moffat and to the BBC. Everything else belongs to my imagination.
> 
> A/N2: Maxence Spitz is my human version of the Ninth Doctor. Instead of using the usual 'John Smith', 'John Noble' or 'Mr Spock' aliases of the Doctor, I created a full new name for him. So, Maxence Spitz is a personalised version of the Doctor.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh, she had tried and tried, but she had never found anything stable. Since she had no A-levels, she was never good enough for any boss and they all had exploited her before throwing her away with so little money she couldn’t afford much."

It was Christmas again, and Rose Tyler felt like the most terrible woman and mother around once again. Last year, she had promised herself to be a better mother for her little boy, to find a permanent job and to find a permanent home, but she still hadn’t fulfilled that promise to herself and she was disappointed of herself. Oh, she had tried and tried, but she had never found anything stable. Since she had no A-levels, she was never good enough for any boss and they all had exploited her before throwing her away with so little money she couldn’t afford much. She had never used that money for herself and had always bought anything her little boy needed instead. He would always be her first priority. She was sacrificing herself for him to have a good life, just like her mother and father had done for her when times were hard on them. They had managed to give her a life worth fighting for until she was sixteen.

They had died into a car crash on a winter night. The car had slid on the frozen road and had left the road to crash in a tree. They hadn’t suffered and had both died instantly. Rose had hated the winter season ever since that day. She hadn’t been in the car though. That night, she had been sleeping at her boyfriend’s flat. Jimmy Stone was older than her. He was twenty when she was just sixteen, but he was all gentle and polite and charming. Well, that’s how he had been when they met. She was just sixteen back then, and she had been naïve. So naïve. First, he had made her give up her studies. Much to the displeasure of Rose’s parents. Then, it had just been small things, but he was still trying to control her life, and she had realised it only when it was too late, when he had forced her to stay inside the unhealthy flat they were living in.

She had been stuck with Jimmy Stone for years. It had been years of bad treatments, of violence, of sexual assaults and humiliation, but she had never said anything. Until she found out that she was pregnant. She was only twenty-four at the time. She had no A-levels, no job, no family left. She had nothing, but a small baby growing up in her belly, and a violent alcoholic boyfriend. Jimmy Stone was sleeping off the alcohol he had drunk in a party he had gone without her when she had decided it was time to leave. She had taken her belongings and left the flat. She had never come back and never regretted her decision, even though it was really hard for her. She was pregnant and she had no one to help her through the pregnancy. She couldn’t afford any medical exam or doctor so she had just done her best to stay alive and keep her baby safe. Even if Jimmy was the biological father, she had wanted to keep him.

The first year after she had left Jimmy, she lived in the streets, hiding in shelters for homeless people and going to free clinics when she needed to. She knew Jimmy was looking for her and didn’t want him to find her. If he had found her, he would have known that she was pregnant and would have kept her forever locked into his flat. But he never did thankfully. Rose gave birth to her little boy alone, in the streets. Oh, she had been so scared when her water broke, when the labour started. She had wished her mother to be there in that hard time, but she wasn’t. She would never meet her grandchild. She would never know what her daughter had become. Maybe that was for the best. If she had known what Jimmy Stone had done to her, it would have broken her mother’s heart. And Jimmy Stone would most likely have regretted ever messing with the Tyler family.

After she gave birth to the most handsome and wonderful little boy, she had promised herself to give him a good life. It was hard. It was really hard to keep that word when she was barely surviving thanks to the help she could get from the shelters and the soup kitchens and stealing in the malls when it wasn’t enough. She was starving and freezing most of the time, but as long as her little Elliot was fine and had everything he could need, she didn’t care. She had lost a lot of weight, but she wasn’t sick as hell like most of the homeless people she had met. That’s how her life had been for the last six years. She had thought her problems were about to be resolved, that she was gonna see the end of that dark tunnel soon when she had gotten a job and a small flat a few months ago, but that morning, her boss – who was also her landlord – had thrown her out for a professional misconduct she hadn’t even done and refused to pay her.

That’s how Rose Tyler had ended up in the streets again with her very few possessions and her little boy on the morning of Christmas Eve. She had worked so hard to give him the best of Christmas this year and she had failed again, and that was too much for her. She wandered in the London’s streets, a backpack full with their belongings on her back, holding firmly Elliot’s hands so he wouldn’t get lost in the crowd of happy people running around to get their Christmas errands done in time. No one paid attention to the woman walking down the same streets as them with her stooped back, her sad face, holding her boy’s hand and thinking sadly this year again, she wouldn’t be able to afford a gift for him. She felt like the worst mother ever for not being able to make her little boy happy on a day like this. She felt even worse when they passed in front of a small shop selling teddy bears, the same teddy bears he had dreamed of having one day.

Elliot looked up at his mother, still holding her hand tightly. He knew she was sad that she couldn’t buy him any gift for Christmas, and he was sad too but he knew that their life was harder than anyone’s life and that his mummy was doing the best she could. While only six years old, he already knew that being with her, being loved by her was enough to be happy, no matter how hard they had to fight to have a decent life.

 

“It’s okay, mummy. As long as we are together, we will be fine,” he tried to reassure her.

 

Rose looked down at him and smiled sadly. He was so handsome with his green eyes and his light brown hair. His nose was a bit red because of the cold. He smiled back at her and there was so much warmth in this smile that Rose felt her heart melt and she almost broke down. How could he show her so much love and happiness when she was the worst mother he could ever have? She stopped walking and knelt down, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight. She kissed his head softly.

 

“I love you,” she murmured into his ear.

“To the moon and back,” he completed.

 

Snow was starting to fall all around them and the cold was really getting them now, but Elliot was looking at the small flakes falling from the sky with amazement. He liked the snow. He found it very beautiful, but he never knew why his mother looked so sad whenever it was snowing. She hadn’t told him yet about his grandparents, and she didn’t tell him how close of breaking down she was right now. The snow almost made her cry and she blinked back a few tears while pain clutched her heart. Elliot shivered when a flake fell on his neck and laughed a bit at it. Christmas was a magical holiday. Something good was gonna happen to them. He had prayed long enough for it to happen. He wanted his mother to be happy. He hated seeing her so sad.

Rose saw him shiver and immediately put the backpack down. She took off her patched coat she had gotten onto a stand of the Red Cross a few months ago and wrapped it around him. She zipped it and lightly tapped Elliot’s nose with a small smile. She put the backpack back on her back and caught her son’s hand before walking again. She entered a shopping centre. They would be protected from the cold in there. She made Elliot sit down on a bench close to a food store and put the backpack next to him. She stroked his face gently.

 

“I gonna go and buy some food for you. I won’t be long. You just wait for me here, and you don’t follow or talk to anyone, okay?”

 

She hated herself for doing so. She wasn’t gonna buy anything. She was gonna steal it, and she didn’t want him to see her acting that way. She had no choice but to steal to make sure he would eat something because she couldn’t afford it. And she hated leaving him here while she was gonna commit a crime. Elliot nodded.

 

“I’m waiting for you. I don’t move. I don’t follow or talk to anyone.”

 

That was a lesson she had taught him over the years. When she said she was gonna get some food, he had to wait at a special spot – usually somewhere no one would bother him, somewhere he would be safe for a few minutes – and it was forbidden for him to talk or follow any stranger. She was keeping him safe while she was taking all the possible risks for him to be able to eat something. Rose kissed his head softly and murmured again how much she loved him before walking into the food store.

 

Elliot Tyler was a very obedient child. He had learned very quickly that it was useless to try and fight his mother for something. The idea had never come to him though. His mother was so tender, and loving, and protective of him that he couldn’t ask for more. Of course, their life was very hard, and he was trying his best not to be a naughty boy for life to be easier on them. So, when his mother was asking him to wait for her and not to talk to stranger or follow them, he obeyed her. No one ever came up to him to ask him what he was doing all alone anyway. It was as if people knew he was the child of a homeless woman and were avoiding him the best they could. They also were asking their children to stay away from him, as if he was contagious. It hurt him inside down, but a hug from his mother and everything was forgotten. She was the only person he cared about, and the only person who cared about him.

He pulled the backpack close to him and wrapped his arms around it, watching at all the people around him. They all looked in a hurry of getting something done really quick, in a hurry of being somewhere else. None of them seemed really happy to be running around like they were doing. They probably all had a better life than he did but none of them looked happy and Elliot realised that if that was what a “normal life” looked like, he didn’t want it. He would rather just live in the streets with his gentle and loving mother who would give you anything he needed, whatever she would have to do to have it. Elliot kept looking at the people around him, while no one actually gave him a single look. He was used to it. It was easy to obey his mother in such a situation. He hadn’t expected that someone would actually stop close to him and talk to him.

 

“What are you doing here on your own?”

 

The voice was quiet and definitely masculine. Elliot looked up at the man who was standing close to him. He was very tall and his eyes were the clearest blue eyes he had ever seen in his short life. The man was wearing a white shirt, and black jeans with a long coat. Everything about him was saying he was one of the rich people. Someone with a big house and a lot of useless things. Someone who was never starving or freezing. Someone who usually never stopped to talk to a homeless boy. Elliot looked down and didn’t answer the question. That was one of the rules. The man didn’t leave though. He sat down on the bench, leaving a small distance between them.

 

“Where is your mummy? And your daddy?”

 

Once again, Elliot remained silent. The rules were the rules. He couldn’t break them because someone had finally lay their eyes on him. His mother would be back soon. He just had to wait a little bit longer and ignore the man the best he could.

 

“Oh, the ‘don’t talk to strangers’ rule. Your mummy is probably close. I’m Maxence, but everyone calls me Max. I saw you sitting there alone, and it looks strange to me. I don’t like lonely kids. Especially on Christmas Eve day. Everyone should be happy today.”

“They don’t look happy.”

 

The words had escaped him while he was watching at the people running everywhere. The man looked kind although he was a bit insistent, and Elliot had a certain advantage. The man had given a name, whether it was his real one or not.

 

“They will be. Eventually. Tonight, they will all share a family meal, and open gifts.”

 

Elliot wouldn’t, because his mother was his only family and they couldn’t do all the things people usually do on Christmas Eve. They would look for a new shelter so they wouldn’t stay in the cold winter and snowing night while all those people would gather around a table and share a hot meal and gifts.

 

“My mummy is buying food.”

 

Buying was a big word. He didn’t exactly know how his mother was getting all this food she was giving him while she was barely eating or eating things she was finding in a dustbin most of the time.

 

“Let me go! Leave me alone! You stupid assholes! Let me go!”

 

Elliot turned around when he heard her mother yell. Two men were firmly holding her and trying to pull her out of the food store while she was struggling to get away from them. Maxence followed his move and looked at the blonde girl struggling against the two minders.

 

“That’s my mummy!”

 

Maxence raised an eyebrow. Elliot immediately jumped on his feet and rushed in the store. He tried to push away the men holding his mother and hurting her, but they easily pushed him aside.

 

“Let her go!”

 

He tried to help his mother but was once again shoved aside a bit more brutally this time. Elliot fell to the ground, causing Rose to be even more furious.

 

“Don’t touch him! I swear to God!”

“Hey!” intervened Maxence who’d followed Elliot in the store. “You were never told to be nice with kids, weren’t you?”

 

Maxence picked up the little boy and put him back on his feet. He checked if he was alright, if he hadn’t been hurt in his fall. Elliot was perfectly fine. He just wanted to protect his mother from those men who were being rude and brutalising her. Something he couldn’t accept. Something should accept. Maxence looked at the two men who stopped moving when he had intervened.

 

“Why are you brutalising that poor woman?”

“We caught her stealing food and trying to run away.”

“Is that a way of treating people? Let her go.”

“Sir…”

“Let her go.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

The two minders let Rose go and she immediately ran to Elliot. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around him, making sure he was alright though the man who was taking her defence had already checked if her little boy was fine. She looked at him as he took his wallet out of his pocket and pulled some money out of it.

 

“Whatever she’s taken, give it back to her. This should be enough for the indemnification.”

 

He slipped the money into the chest pocket of one of the men and put his wallet back into the pocket of his long coat. The other man disappeared and came back with a few things. He put them in a bag and gave it to Rose. Maxence noticed that it was only food, and he realised that the blonde woman wasn’t stealing that food for her – she was so thin that she probably hadn’t eaten a real meal in a while – but for her son, and according to their cheap clothes, and their rough appearance they probably had been living in the streets for a while. He found her beautiful though, in her wild appearance. She took the bag of food and quickly left the store with her son, almost running out of the shopping centre. Maxence watched her leave until she was out of his sight. Then, he left the store. He needed to find her. He couldn’t let her spend Christmas in the streets with her son.

 

Rose was almost running towards the exit of the shopping centre, holding the bag of food, the backpack and her son’s hand all at once. She wanted to be out of here quickly before anyone could catch her and prevent her from giving food to her son. There was a weight on her chest causing her to be out of breath, to be in pain. This wasn’t the first time she had to run away from someone, but it was the first time someone helped her. Probably the last too. And today, Rose Tyler had enough of this life. She couldn’t keep on that way. She wanted it all to stop. And suddenly, she broke down, in the middle of the snow-covered street. She let everything go and fell to her knees. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks while she was running. Now, she was sobbing, and the only person who dared looking at her and trying to comfort her was her little boy.

 

“No one should be crying today.”

 

Rose recognised the voice as belonging to the man who had helped her in the store. It was already humiliating enough to have been caught while she was trying to get some food for Elliot and to have everyone be a witness of her degradation, no need to add another humiliation on the list. He knelt down next to her and gave her some tissues. Rose took them and thanked him, trying to calm herself down, but she had had this weight on his chest for so long that it wasn’t easy to calm down now that she had broken down. The man gently rubbed her back and waited until she felt better. She looked up at him and her eyes met his icy blue ones. Eyes she could swear she had already seen somewhere.

 

“You’re…”

“Maxence Spitz.”

“Spitz, like…”

“From the Spitz family, yeah.”

“What would you do with someone like me, Mr Spitz?”

“Helping. It’s what I’m best at. Helping people.”

 

She probably looked miserable now with her puffy eyes, her red face wet with tears, her patched and dirty clothes. She was soaked and cold because of the snow that was still falling, but she didn’t need help from this man. She always had managed to live his life without any help. Today wasn’t gonna change.

 

“I…”

“I’m just offering you bed and board for the night. You’re not forced to stay if you don’t want to.”

“…”

“My family is giving a small reception for Christmas up there, in the manor. It’s gonna be boring, but there will be food, and I can easily find a spare room for you and your lovely boy.”

 

Rose was still looking at him in the eyes. She seemed fascinated by them. She was about to refuse once again. She swallowed the lump in her throat and finally nodded. Just for tonight. It would be okay, just for tonight. She could do that, she could accept his help and give Elliot a real Christmas. Maxence smiled at her and helped her up. He picked up all her belongings while she picked up Elliot and he led them to his car. They all got into the back of it, and the driver drove back to the Spitz manor.

 

×

 

Maxence Spitz was supposed to help his family with the decorations of the manor, and with the preparation of the reception room. Instead, he spent the whole afternoon running into the manor with Elliot Tyler, playing with him, and showing him how to slide down a handrail. They both had a lot of fun together and Rose was happy to see her little boy laughing and having fun after all the hard times they had both gone through. While they were both having fun, Rose enjoyed a long and hot shower – she surprisingly trusted Maxence with Elliot – and when she came out of the bathroom, she found clean clothes on the bed with a small note saying that they were for her. She pulled them on enjoying the feeling of clean and new clothes after months of wearing the same outfit. She managed to get her son back and to give him a bath – something he hadn’t had in months; his last bath had been in the Hyde Park lake. He too got new and clean clothes.

Elliot immediately ran off the room to find Maxence when she was done washing and dressing him. Rose used that time to get some rest. She inexplicably felt safe in that huge manor and knowing her little boy was having fun for the first time in a very long time was helping her to stay relaxed. She slept for a few hours, until someone knocked on the door. She opened it up and someone gave her a dress and a small suit and tie in a protective cover. She was surprised by the gesture.

 

“What is this for?”

“Mister Spitz asked me to bring you the dress and the suit and tie for your son.”

“But…”

“It’s for the reception, miss.”

“I was wondering if you would accept to be my partner for the night.”

 

Maxence suddenly appeared behind the woman. Elliot was happily perched on his back. Rose smiled at her son’s happiness and leaned against the doorway, her cheeks lightly red from the embarrassment of Maxence’s demands.

 

“I’m sure there’s plenty of women out there waiting for you to ask them to be their partner, mister Spitz.”

“Maybe, but they’re not as fascinating as you are.”

 

Maxence took the protective cover with the clothes from the woman’s hands and thanked her before she went away. He came into the room and put both the clothes and the boy down on the bed. He looked back at Rose whose cheeks were redder than earlier, and smiled shyly at her.

 

“I’m not that interesting as a person, really,” she mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sure you have plenty of things to tell. Not like me. My life is boring. Your story looks much more interesting, but once again, I’m not forcing you to do something you don’t want.”

 

He was nervous, even if he was hiding it very well, and it made her smile. She was as nervous as he was, if it wasn’t more. The man was lovely, and handsome. Maybe she could give him a try. Just for tonight.

 

“How can you be sure this dress will fit me?”

“Oh, errr….” He scratched the back of his head. “Someone took your measures while you were sleeping. Elliot has been a very nice boy and didn’t move while I measured him.”

“Oh,” replied Rose, embarrassed that someone had measured her skinny body while she was sleeping. “Well, it would be unfair of me to turn down your invitation after everything you’ve done for me today.”

“I’m glad you’re accepting.” He took her hand and lightly pressed his lips on it. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”

 

He bumped fists with Elliot and they both laughed before Maxence left the room. Rose smiled at this and kissed her little boy’s head.

 

“Seems like you made yourself a friend.”

“Max is so cool!”

“So this is Max now?”

“He told me not to call him Mister Spitz. He’d rather be called Max.”

“If he’s the one telling you to, then, I have nothing to say about it.”

 

She smiled again and Elliot told her how cool his new friend was and what they had been doing all afternoon. The boy had sparks in his eyes. Rose had never seen him so happy before and she was glad to have accepted Maxence’s help, but she wouldn’t abuse his hospitality for too long. So, they would probably leave as soon as Christmas was over. Rose unzipped the protective cover and pulled out the small suit and tie. Elliot was gonna be handsome in it. She looked at the dress and was amazed by it. It was absolutely beautiful. Deep blue, the dress was covering her shoulders and half of her arms, and was falling down on her knees. It was tight – but not too tight so it wouldn’t accentuate her thinness – on her hips and a bit more loose around her pelvis and legs. She never wore something this beautiful in her entire life. Heels the same colours as the dress – and not too high for her not to fall – were given to her, and formal shoes for Elliot. She got them ready quickly when the time was almost there. She watched her son. He was absolutely handsome in his little suit with his little tie.

 

“You are handsome,” she said, gently tapping his nose.

 

He smiled, replying that she was just as beautiful as he was. She felt a bit embarrassed in those clothes she wasn’t used to wear. She had taken a little time to do some make up and find a hairstyle. It was simple, and light. She let her hair fall on her shoulders, and only used a hair slide to tie two strands of hair on the back of her head. She wasn’t wearing any jewel. She didn’t own any. There was a knock on the door. She walked to it and opened it. Maxence was standing there, looking absolutely handsome in his three-pieces suit. He wasn’t wearing a tie, but had a small white flower on the chest pocket of his jacket.

 

“You are absolutely beautiful,” he whispered, really amazed.

“Thank you,” she murmured back, blushing. “You’re not bad either.”

“I’ve got a little something for you.”

“Isn’t all of this enough?”

 

He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it and showed her. It was a thin golden necklace with a small shining sapphire pendant. Her eyes grew big.

 

“I can’t accept this gift.”

“It would make me really happy if you did.”

“This is too much, Mister Spitz. You don’t have to…”

 

He took the necklace between his long and thin fingers and gently fastened it around her neck before she could say anything else. He was stubborn, he wouldn’t let her refuse his gift to her.

 

“Now, if you don’t mind following me.”

 

He offered his arm to her and she hooked her own arm around his. Her free hand held Elliot’s hand while they were walking to the reception room. She smiled shyly when they entered the room full of people as they all tried to talk to Maxence but he was all eyes for her.

The reception was boring, just like he had told her but he got her to dance a few times and she felt like she was in a dream. Nothing could compare to the night she was having with the caring and gentle Maxence Spitz. She found herself very embarrassed though when their steps led them under some mistletoe. They watched each other both blushing, knowing that now they had to kiss just like the custom was asking. Maxence slowly leaned and closed his eyes as he pressed his lips to Rose’s lips. The kiss was short, but long enough to take away Rose’s breath. She had never been kissed so softly by a man, and it almost made her cry to know that would be the only time it would happen, but Maxence smiled at her and took her to the buffet before they went back to dancing. Although there was a lot of women asking for him, he never left her. Much to her pleasure, and relief. She knew no one but him here.

After midnight had rang and after people had shared their vows of happiness and health for this Christmas, Maxence sneaked out of the reception, taking Rose and Elliot with him, saying that now was the time for the real fun. He made them visit the whole manor, learning her how to slide down a handrail without ruining her clothes. She was laughing a lot in his presence. She didn’t remember laughing so much in her entire life. When Elliot started showing signs of fatigue, she decided that the night was over for them and that they had to go to bed. Maxence took them back to their room where a teddy bear with a huge bow was waiting on the bed. Elliot ran to it and picked it up.

 

“Merry Christmas, Elliot.”

 

Elliot turned around to look at Maxence. So did Rose. He explained himself just by saying that every little boy should have a teddy bear, and that he had made an express order to Father Christmas, hoping to have it in time. Elliot jumped in Maxence’s arms and went back to hugging the teddy bear. Rose looked up at Maxence. It was useless to tell him that he shouldn’t have done this. He was stubborn, and wouldn’t accept any refusal.

 

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

“It all feels like a dream.”

“Let’s hope it wasn’t one. I’d be disappointed.” He smiled softly, his blue eyes staring at her. “Goodnight, miss Tyler.”

 

He softly kissed her forehead and left the room, closing the door. Rose changed herself into the pyjamas she found on the bed, and changed Elliot too. Her son refused to let go of the teddy bear and insisted on sleeping with it. She saw no reason of refusing, and that night, for the first time ever, both mother and son fell asleep very happy, and full of hope that all the tomorrows would get better.


	2. Forget me not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She often thought about his smile, a smile that was as warm as kindly, about his eyes as blue as the bluest sky, about his soft hands on her arms, about his lips on hers when he had kissed her under the mistletoe that night."

It was the first day of the New Year and Rose Tyler was cursing herself once again. She had left Maxence Spitz’s manor right after Christmas day. She had stayed with him all day on the twenty-fifth of December just like he had asked her, but when he had left her in her room in the evening, she had known that it was all over and that she had to leave. When she had been sure that Maxence wouldn’t hear anything, she had explained Elliot that they would leave in the night, when everyone would be asleep. Of course, the little boy hadn’t understood why she so wanted to leave when Maxence had told her that they could stay as long as they wanted. It didn’t bother him, but Rose hadn’t wanted to outstay his welcome and so, when everyone had been asleep, she had left, leaving all the clothes and things Maxence had given her – except for the necklace and the Teddy bear – and taking back her old and used clothes and stuff. She had just left a small note for Maxence to find when he would come the next morning.

It had been one week since she had left the manor and Rose hadn’t heard about Maxence again. She had been from one shelter to another, but they were all full and couldn’t keep them for more than one night. She should have known that it would be that way. Shelters were always full around Christmas because it was colder and people couldn’t stay outside when they could have a roof and at least one hot meal. So, once again, Rose was left in the streets with Elliot. She had sold almost everything she had in her possession to buy food to her son. She hadn’t eaten anything since Christmas, but she didn’t care as long as Elliot could eat. She wished she could find him a shelter so he wouldn’t be so cold. It was still snowing and the temperatures were colder and colder. It was becoming unbearable. She always found herself shaking from the cold and losing feelings of her body, but she couldn’t help it. It was how her life was.

However, she felt like this winter was colder than any other winter she had gone through those last six years. Somehow, Maxence Spitz had had a certain effect on her. She often thought about his smile, a smile that was as warm as kindly, about his eyes as blue as the bluest sky, about his soft hands on her arms, about his lips on hers when he had kissed her under the mistletoe that night. She was cherishing those memories and they warmed her heart and mind when she was feeling so cold. But right now, it wasn’t enough. She had gone into a small deserted street that was protecting them from the cold wind that was blowing on London that day. And they hadn’t moved from here. She was sat in the snow and trembling rather violently but there was nothing she could do about it. She was cold and couldn’t get warm. And she couldn’t go back to the mall. She never wanted to go back there ever again. Now they knew her too well. She would be arrested before she even had the idea of stealing anything.

She was holding Elliot tight against her for him not to be cold like she was. She was surprised that he didn’t hate her for leaving the Spitz’s manor and going back into an unstable and cold life. She had seen how happy he was when they were at Maxence’s, and she hated herself for taking him away from that happiness but they couldn’t stay at his home, in his family while he barely knew them both. He had trusted them unconditionally when he had invited them over for Christmas and they hadn’t betrayed his trust. Maybe he would feel betrayed since he had more or less tried to make her promise that she wouldn’t disappear in the night. She hadn’t promised such a thing, so maybe he had known, inside down, that she wouldn’t stay. Or she was just imagining things. He probably had forgotten her soon after she was gone. After all, she was just a homeless person with a little boy. He had wanted to be gentle for Christmas. That was all.

A shiver ran down her body and made her lose the trail of her thoughts about Maxence. For the better, because she was starting to hate on Maxence Spitz for showing her a bright and warm life, for making her touch it with the tip of her fingers while she could never have it. Now, she was sat in an empty street, just wearing a T-shirt and old ripped jeans because she had given her jumper and her coat to Elliot. The cold wind rushed into the small street and hit her suddenly. Rose held Elliot tighter against her but the wind pierced through her clothes, and gave her goose pimples. She trembled, her lips slowly becoming blue. She couldn’t feel much of her body anymore, and her teeth were chattering with cold. She closed her eyes. She knew it wasn’t a good idea. She had to struggle, but she was so tired right now. Terribly exhausted. She hadn’t slept in days. She just needed some sleep.

She felt asleep before she could even try and struggle against it. Her body went limp and slumped into her son’s arms. At first, Elliot didn’t notice that his mother had fallen asleep in his arms. He was sad that she had forced them to leave Maxence’s manor when he had told them that they could stay. He liked the man very much, and had seen how good he was to them. Of course, his mother had always explained him that he shouldn’t trust strangers. But she had trusted him first. She had showed him that Maxence Spitz could be trusted, and he had been so nice and generous and welcoming with them that it was hard to understand why his mummy had decided not to let him help them a bit longer, and why she had chosen to go back to that life that was slowly killing her. He could see how cold she was, and he was cold too, but not as cold as she was. And her lips were so blue, and she was so still now.

Elliot realised that something was wrong, that his mother was not feeling good at all. She was too still, and she didn’t seem like he was breathing at all, or so barely that he couldn’t see the steam in the air. He broke the hug suddenly, and noticed the frozen tracks of tears on Rose’s face. He shook her to wake her up. First, he did it lightly, but since she wasn’t waking up, she shook her harder, which wasn’t much. He was just a six years old boy. He couldn’t do much to shake or move the grown-up woman his mummy was. But he couldn’t leave her there either. She was so cold, and so still. He hated that.

 

“Mummy?” he called, shaking her again _._ “Mummy, please, wake up. Wake up! Mummy! Please!”

 

But nothing seemed to work. He was shaking her, calling her, hugging her to give her a bit of his warmth, but she wasn’t waking up. He took off the coat she had given him days earlier and wrapped her into it, but Rose just didn’t open her eyes. His yells ended up drawing the attention of a man that walked quickly in the small street and met with them. Elliot looked up at him. He was disappointed to see that it wasn’t Maxence. He had hoped deep down that the man with the blue eyes would be the one saving them once again, but instead, it was a man with dark eyes. Elliot immediately felt that the man couldn’t be trusted, but he was ready to accept anyone’s help if it was saving his mother. The man leaned down and gathered Rose in his arms. With just a nod, he told Elliot to follow him and walked until he reached a building that wasn’t very welcoming. Elliot was almost running to keep up the pace.

Once they were in the flat – which was so dirty and bare and dark that it was scary – the man laid Rose down on the sagging couch and covered her with a patch blanket that didn’t seem very warm. The flat wasn’t very warm, as if all the radiators were off, and Elliot wondered how his mother was supposed to get warmer and wake up in such a place. He didn’t complain though. At least, they weren’t in the small snowy street and they were protected from the cold wind. Maybe it would help Rose, but it wouldn’t do much. And Elliot really didn’t trust the man. But what could he do now? He couldn’t drag his mother outside. He wasn’t strong enough, and the man was scaring him. None of them said a word to the other. The man was even ignoring the kid, and just disappeared both of them alone in the flat. Strange, and very scary. But Elliot stayed close to his mother who didn’t seem so cold anymore.

Hours passed by, and the night fell on the city and the flat seemed scarier now that it was plunged into total darkness. Rose still hadn’t woken up and Elliot never left her side, except for peeing. But now that it was all dark everywhere, Elliot didn’t leave his mother for a second. He was scared. He couldn’t explain why – maybe that was because his mother wasn’t waking up, though she was breathing much better now, and her lips weren’t so blue anymore; or was it because of the place that made him feel uneasy; or because of the man he didn’t know and that had abandoned them there: what for? – but the feeling was getting to him more and more. He wanted his mummy to wake up, and to take him away from here. He wanted Maxence to find them before anything happened, but Elliot knew Maxence wouldn’t come. Why would he? He didn’t know where they were.

Finally, Rose stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She still felt very cold, but it was less cold than earlier. She moved again and the blanket slipped from her body. She suddenly was very aware that she wasn’t in the street anymore. She sat up immediately and looked around. Her eyes grew big when she recognised the flat she was in. How did she get here? Who had brought her here? Where was Elliot? She had to find her little boy and to run away from here before _he_ found her. But he had already found her when she was in the streets. Why had he brought her here? What did he have in mind? Rose didn’t know and she really didn’t want to find out. She got up quickly and looked around once again. Elliot was curled up on the ground, and he was sleeping pretty lightly. She woke him up.

 

“Elliot, come on, boy,” she said quietly but urgently. “We gotta go from here.”

 

Elliot woke up almost immediately when she shook him and jumped into the arms of his mother, relieved that she was finally awake. He agreed with her on the fact that they had to leave before the man came back. He really didn’t trust him, and according to his mother’s reaction, she knew him and she clearly didn’t trust him. He grabbed her hand and followed her as she quickly walked to the front door of the flat, but it opened before they could reach it.

 

“Where do ya think yer going, Rose?”

 

The man came in the flat and closed the door. He locked it behind him, making sure they wouldn’t run away so soon. He made a few steps towards Rose who stepped back. She didn’t want to be close to him. Just the sight of him was making her sick.

 

“Back to where I was: away from you.”

“Ya can’t run away from me. I’ve found ya.”

 

His voice was giving her cold sweats. He was speaking very quietly but she felt the threat in his words. He wanted her to explain why she had left him six years ago, and she was afraid that he might ask why she hadn’t told him that she was pregnant with his child. Elliot was obviously his, and the boy certainly didn’t know anything about his father. It was finally time for the truth.

 

“It’s never gonna happen again.”

“Right, ‘cause yer niver gonna leave this place ever again!”

 

Rose still felt cold and weak. So, when Jimmy Stone, her ex boyfriend she had tried so hard to run away from, grabbed her throat and pinned her against the closest wall, she couldn’t do anything. Jimmy was just like when she had left him six years ago. Except he was much more destroyed. He obviously hadn’t stopped the drugs and alcohol and right now, he was going through a withdrawal because he had no money. Rose knew it. She had lived that situation over and over again before she decided to leave. And when Jimmy was facing a withdrawal, he was capable of anything. Rose was truly afraid right now. Not for her life, but for her son’s life, because if Jimmy decided to get rid of her, he could easily ask for the custody of Elliot and it could be accepted. She was a homeless mother with no job, when he had a flat, and most likely a lousy job to pay for his dependences.

 

“I ran away once. I’ll do it again,” she provoked him.

 

Elliot didn’t know what to do. He was afraid. He had known that the man couldn’t be trusted and now he was threatening his mother, and the little boy couldn’t do anything. He was terrified, and he knew his mother was too. So, Elliot didn’t move. He remained very still and just watched his mummy struggling against Jimmy. He wanted to run away when they started yelling at each other, but he couldn’t abandon his mother. And then, he heard one thing. One thing that disgusted him. That man was his father. That man was the reason why his mummy was living in the streets, why she kept looking over her shoulder, why she kept running away, why she didn’t trust anyone. That man had left her broken, and he was doing it again. And when he started beating her, Elliot could do nothing but watch and pray for it to stop very soon.

His prayer seemed to be fulfilled, because soon after, Jimmy Stone ripped the necklace Maxence had offered Rose from her neck and left the flat. He slammed the door and locked it behind him to be sure they wouldn’t go anywhere. Rose’s broken body slumped to the ground as she sobbed loudly. Elliot wanted to hug her so bad but was afraid to hurt more. So, he prayed, once again, that Maxence, the only nice person he knew in the world would come and save them from the violent man who had abducted them and who was keeping them prisoners in that scary flat.

 

×

 

Maxence Spitz was pretty sad on this first day of the New Year. He had felt this way ever since he had woken up on the day that had followed Christmas. He had known when he had opened his eyes that morning that she was gone. So, he hadn’t taken the time of taking the shower and had just pulled on some clothes before running to the room she had been in. He had knocked on the door, but there had been no answer. He had put his hand on the door handle, but hadn’t dared opening the door. He had waited this way, his hand on the door handle, the forehead pressed against the wooden door, for a few minutes. Or a few hours, he didn’t really remember. He just knew that at some point, he had opened the door and felt his heart sinking into his chest: the room was empty. Rose and Elliot were gone and they had left everything he had given them.

He had found the little note on the heap of clothes, a note written with a very bad handwriting as if the person hadn’t held a pen for a very long time – which was most likely the case – and written only for him. He could tell that note word for word now, because he had read it so many times: “Maxence, I’m sorry for leaving that way without saying goodbye, but you wouldn’t have let me go if I did say goodbye to you. Those two days I spent in your company were the best days I ever had in my whole life, and I can only thank you for your welcoming and gentleness towards Elliot and me. It was highly appreciated, but I couldn’t outstay your welcome. You’ve been good enough to us for those two days, and I will never be able to thank you enough for what you’ve done. It’s just words, and they’ll never be able to really express how much thankful I am for your help but thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Rose.”

He had kept the note on his pocket since he had found it. He didn’t know why he was so sad that she had left, when he had known that it would happen, that she would leave. She didn’t know him after all. Why would have she stayed around in his family’s manor when she didn’t know him at all? He could have been a serial killer for all she knew. But he wasn’t. He was truly just a guy that had wanted to help a mother and her child to have a nice Christmas. Well, that’s what he was telling himself. Actually, he had seen her a few times in the streets before; but had never dared talking to her. He usually was standing in the shadows watching her as she was struggling against life itself. She was a very fascinating woman who had caught his eye once when he was running an errand in town. And she’d never left his mind ever since. He was always trying to see her whenever he was in town.

However, he never had the courage to talk to her before that day. He had recognised Elliot, her little boy, sitting on that bench in the mall, and had decided that it was time to break the ice. The boy had been very mistrustful at first. His only will was to protect his mummy, and Maxence could easily understand that since she was the only thing he had in life. And he had _really_ wanted to help them both. That was why he had followed the boy into the story, and when he had seen that she was at her wits’ end, when he had seen how desperate she was, he had known that he had to do something for her. That was why he had paid for her things, why he had run after her in the streets, why he had offered her to come over to his family’s Christmas party. He had never been so happy than the moment she had accepted, and that Christmas had been the best Christmas he had ever had.

He was still blushing whenever he was thinking about the kiss they had had under the mistletoe. He had liked it, and had wanted to do it for a while now. He knew she had liked it too, and he had so wanted to do it again, but never dared to. He was cherishing every single second he had spent with her and Elliot those two days, and now that she was gone in the streets again, he felt very empty, very sad. He was almost _desperate_ to see her again, so desperate that he felt like he had a hole in his heart. He didn’t understand why the woman had such an effect on him, but he knew he wanted her. He wanted to see her smile again, to see her strong but shy eyes, to touch her soft and pale skin, to kiss her sensual lips again, and… And he couldn’t think properly anymore. He wanted that woman more than he had ever wanted anything.

His family had tried to find him some lovely woman with as much prestige as his name was forcing him to have. The curse of the Spitz family. Being a part of such a recognised family was forcing to find someone from his rank, but he had never been interested in any of the women who had been presented to him. They were all boring, and power-hungry, and superficial. They were all flirting with him because he had been designated like the best match in that society he was a part of, but it would be some sort of an arranged marriage, and Maxence Spitz was no man to get married with someone he wouldn’t love. He wasn’t a man to get trapped into a relationship with a cold and boring woman. He was much more interested in Rose Tyler, which seemed so vulnerable but so strong, so simple but so complicated, so intriguing and so loveable. They would laugh at him if he told them that he had fallen in love with that blonde woman living in the streets. A blonde woman who’d broken his heart the day she left.

He had come back to his flat – he wasn’t living in the manor, but had a flat in town – with that state of mind, with the idea that the woman he was in love with had preferred going back into the streets instead of staying with him. He should have told her what he was feeling, but he had been afraid. He would have looked like a stalker, a creeper, and he hadn’t wanted to scare her. He would have to tell her at some point. If he ever saw her again, he would tell her. He just had to find her. But the town was huge and she could be anywhere now. Anywhere, in the cold winter streets. And he hated that. He hated to know that she was somewhere outside, exposed to the cold wind and to the snow. He hated thinking about her freezing to death and starving because she was giving everything she had to Elliot. Honourable, but dangerous. One day, she might not be able to face that life anymore, and she was dangerously close to that line.

Maxence was standing in front of one of the huge windows of his flat and staring at the town that was slowly being covered with the small white flakes. It hadn’t stopped snowing since Christmas, and it had gotten colder and colder outside. And Maxence was feeling colder and colder inside down. The only things that warming him were the memories of the two days he had spent with Rose, a warmth that disappeared as soon as he remembered that Rose was outside with Elliot with nothing but patched clothes – and she was covering her son with most of it – and nothing else. She hadn’t taken any of the clothes he had bought for them. A detail suddenly hit him. She had left all the clothes behind her, he knew for sure because he had checked and brought everything back in his flat, but Elliot had kept the Teddy bear, and Rose had kept the necklace. Probably to pawn it. If she did so, it meant that he could find her.

He didn’t waste any time and slipped his shoes on. He grabbed his coat and left his flat. He quickly locked it and almost ran to his car. Hope was taking over his sadness. He could find her. If she did pawn the necklace, there would be someone who would have seen her, and Maxence would just have to look around the area. It would make the researches so much easier. There were a lot of pawnbrokers in town, but he would visit them all. He had nothing better to do, and no better reason than finding Rose Tyler. He would bring Elliot and his mother back to his flat and tell her everything. And he really hoped she wouldn’t run away when he would tell her the truth about his sudden help on Christmas Eve. But as he was going to one pawnbroker to another, as no one seemed to have seen her, he started to feel very cold inside, and very sad again. His hope was giving up on him. Until he entered that one shop.

The shop was almost empty, except for the shopkeeper and another man pretty underdressed for the cold since he was wearing dirty and ripped jeans and T-shirt. They were in the middle of a talk when Maxence came in, and didn’t stop talking when they heard the small bell ringing. The shop was pretty dark, and the atmosphere was oppressive. Almost like _Borgin and Burkes_. Maxence walked to the counter and waited until the two men were done with their deal. He looked around, not really listening to them. A sparkle of gold caught his eye though. He turned his head to see the man holding out a necklace to the shopkeeper. A necklace Maxence knew very well because that was the one he had offered to Rose last week. His heart leapt. He was on the right path. But if that man had the necklace, it meant that Rose… An idea he didn’t like was forming itself in his mind.

 

“Where did you get that?” he asked suddenly, grabbing the man’s wrist.

 

The man glared at him and tried to get free from his hold but Maxence was holding him too tight. The man had a cheap appearance. Probably a junky according to the injections’ marks on his arms, and the damaged face. He just needed money for his next dose, and had found Rose. He had stolen the necklace from her. But what had he done to her before? Maxence’s heart ached at the thought that he might have hurt her badly. He _really_ needed to find her, to save her.

 

“It’s none of yer business.”

“It is. Because I’ve bought that necklace and offered it to a friend of mine. So, where is she and what have you done to her?”

 

Rage was inflating in his chest as he was looking at that man. He was convinced, while looking into those dark eyes, that the man had seen Rose and hurt her to get the necklace. The shopkeeper was looking at the two of them, not knowing what was going on. Maxence kept his hold tight around the man’s wrist and pulled out the purchase certificate and his ID. He forced the man to let go of the necklace that fell on the counter with a small noise.

 

“This is the proof. You can check the serial number. It’s the same. There’s only once necklace like this one, and I’m the one who bought it.”

 

The shopkeeper took a close look to the purchase certificate and checked the serial number and Maxence’s ID. Those were not fake documents. Maxence was right. He was the legal owner of that necklace.

 

“He’s right, sir. He’s got all the proofs. I can’t give you anything for this. It’s his property.”

“Ya’all, ya think yer better than everyone ‘cause you’re full of dosh, ‘cause yer known, but that doesn’t work on meh. And I’ll tell ya what? Ya can’t do anything against meh.”

“I can send you in jail for attack and theft of someone’s property. You seem to know something about me, sir. So you must know who I am, right?”

“Da Spitz guy,” he spat.

“ ‘Da Spitz guy’,” said Maxence, using the same turn of phrase, “is a lawyer, and he’s asking you two questions: where is she and what have you done to her?”

The man snorted, “I don’t know who yar talking ‘bout.”

“Don’t lie to me. Don’t fucking dare lying to me!”

 

The bubble of rage was inflating more and more in his chest and threatened to blow up, but Maxence was trying to hold it back. If he didn’t, he would destroy the man. And he couldn’t do such a thing. It wouldn’t be a good thing. He had to find Rose, and that man, whoever he was, was gonna tell him where she was. He wasn’t gonna attack first. If the man did, Maxence would only defend himself. If he was eaten up by the withdrawal of whatever he was destroying himself with, it would make him unstable, and he would want to get rid of him quickly to go and get some money elsewhere. They were glaring at each other, defying each other to see who would be the one to make the first move. Maxence loosened his grip on the man’s wrist, and the latter immediately took advantage to try and attack him, but Maxence reacted quickly. He overpowered him with an armlock in the back and pinned in on the counter under the eyes of a pretty scared shopkeeper.

 

“Now, can we talk?”

 

The man was still struggling against his strong and painful hold, but he couldn’t do nothing and he felt humiliated to be controlled so easily by that ‘Spitz guy’ he hated more and more.

 

“I don’t know what yer talkin’ ‘bout!”

“I’m talking about the short blonde girl I offered that necklace to last week, and her little boy. You’ve obviously seen them if you managed to get your dirty hands on the necklace.”

“She’s mah gurl! What do ya want to do with her?” the man groaned, still struggling.

“Your girl?”

 

Maxence was sceptical. Rose was alone when he had found her, and she had never talked about a guy. The only possible explanation – the only one his heart wanted to accept – was that Rose was living in the streets because she had left that guy. Years ago. And that guy was most likely Elliot’s father. No wonder why she had run away. That guy was a real wreck, and he was violent. Maxence knew by experience, because he had seen a lot of those guys in the court, that they were real cowards who submitted whenever they were facing someone stronger than them. He strengthened his hold. The shopkeeper was observing them but didn’t say a thing.

 

“Where. Is. She?”

“I foun’ her in da’ street! She was cold and I brought her to mah flat!”

“Where?”

 

Jimmy Stone knew that he had lost. He had no chance to win, or to have the upper hand over Maxence Spitz. He better give him what he wanted before he broke his arm. He told him his address and when Maxence was sure he was lying anymore, he grabbed the necklace, and his papers and let go of the man. He rushed outside the shop and ran to the building in which Rose was locked. It was in such a lame state that he could enter the property easily. He ran up the stairs and kicked the door down. The wooden door didn’t resist and slammed opened against the wall. Maxence came in the dark cold flat and looked for Rose.

 

×

 

Elliot was desperate. His mummy had gone unconscious a few minutes after the man left, and she kept whimpering in pain. The man had probably broken some bones, and large bruises were forming themselves on her pale cold skin. She was trembling badly again, and tears were still flowing on her cheeks. The little boy was heartbroken by his mother’s current situation, and didn’t know what to do. So, he had just taken the patched worn blanket and had covered her up with it. Then, he had just curled up against her, hoping that his warmth would help her, and he had kept praying, praying again and again that the only man he could trust in the world, the only man that could help him would come and find them, and save his mummy. Maxence Spitz, the tall man with incredible blue eyes, the man who had saved them once, would save them once again.

The little boy didn’t know how much time had passed by when the door slammed against the wall. It could have been seconds, or minutes, or even hours. Except the flat was still very cold and very dark. The position wasn’t comfy, but Elliot wouldn’t move. He wouldn’t let go of his mummy. He flinched when the door slammed and curled up even more against his mother who hadn’t moved. He gripped her T-shirt and hid into her chest, hoping that if it was the man again, his little body would be enough to protect her. He heard the footsteps coming close to them. First, they were almost hesitant, as if the person was looking for something or someone, and the bubble of hope inflated in his chest. He didn’t move though, and just listened to the footsteps which hurried up to stop next to them. Elliot heard someone falling on his knees, and the whisper he heard definitely confirm that his prayers had been fulfilled.

He raised his head when a hand was put on his shoulder. His green eyes met icy blue ones full of concern, and hurt, and his heart leapt with some joy and a huge relief. He immediately jumped on Maxence’s lap and clang on him as tears of relief ran down his cheeks. He sobbed into his chest, and snuggled closer to him when Maxence wrapped his arms around him and rocked him slowly, trying to comfort the little boy who was thanking him and whoever had made him come and find them here.

 

“It’s gonna be alright now,” he promised. “I’ve found you. I’m gonna take care of you.”

 

And the most urgent now was to take Rose away from that unhealthy and unwelcoming flat, and to take care of her wounds. Elliot understood it clearly when Maxence explained it to him. They broke the hug and he quickly took a look at Rose. When he was sure she could be moved, Maxence took off his coat and wrapped her in it. Then, he lifted her and carried her bridal style. He looked at the young boy.

 

“Do you trust me, Elliot?”

“Yes,” he replied with no hesitation.

“I’m taking you home,” added Maxence with a light smile.

 

Elliot smiled back at him and grabbed the old backpack which contained the rest of their belongings. Which wasn’t much: only a Teddy bear – Rose couldn’t sell it, she never had had the heart of taking it away from her son, just like she couldn’t sell the necklace which was the reminder of the good man Maxence had been to her – and maybe some paper towels. He followed Maxence to his car. He was walking quickly but Elliot noticed that he was being careful not to lose him from sight. And soon, they were all in the car with the heating on. Elliot was surprised to see that Maxence wasn’t driving to the manor he had taken them for Christmas, but Maxence explained him that he wasn’t living in the manor. He had a flat, and only went to the manor for family’s duty and celebrations. The boy wasn’t afraid though. He knew Maxence could be trusted. He knew he was taking them to the place he called home.

 

An hour later, they were all in his bright and warm and welcoming flat. Maxence had laid Rose down in his bed and covered her up until only her head was out of the blankets. He had increased the heating for them all to get warm quicker. A doctor was already there when they had arrived – Maxence had called her in the car – and she had taken care of Rose immediately. She had said that she had been lucky, that her wounds were only superficial, that she would heal very quickly, but she had added that she was exhausted and that she was suffering from a bad pneumonia. The symptoms weren’t there already when the doctor had examined Rose but they would soon enough. So, she had given Maxence a long prescription with everything Rose needed on it, and had explicitly told him that she needed to be watched over because the next hours would be determining concerning her condition.

After Rose had been well taken care of, Maxence had showed the spare room of his flat to Elliot. It was more a room where he was having some fun times in because it was full of video games, and books and puzzles and things Elliot had never seen in his little life; but there was a comfortable sofa-bed and Elliot would sleep in there while Maxence would sleep in the couch of the living. After the little boy had looked around curiously, Maxence had offered him to take a bath. He had filled the tub with warm water and soap and called someone to take care of Rose’s medication and to bring him food because he wouldn’t leave his flat for a second in the next days. He was glad that Elliot showed absolutely no sign of mistrust towards him, and took care of the little boy as if he was his own. When he was all clean, Maxence just sat down on the bathroom ground to play with Elliot while he was in the bath.

He sometimes got up to check on Rose, but was never out of the room for more than five minutes. And when he came back, he always sat back down and kept playing with Elliot as if nothing had happened. But on his fifth or sixth check-up on Rose – she was getting a bit too warm in his taste – the boy looked at him straight in the eyes and asked him a question that caught him off-guard and left him perfectly unable to lie.

 

“You like my mummy?”

“Yes.”

 

The little boy got back to his game and didn’t say another word but the relief was clear on his face and Maxence wondered how such a young innocent boy could have seen through him so easily. Or maybe that was just a simple question. Maxence would never know. He would never ask either.

He took the boy out of the water he started getting cold, and dried him off gently. He helped him to pull on the pyjamas he had bought for him on Christmas Eve. He had kept all the clothes, and he was now glad he did. They both watched over Rose until dinner time. She was growing feverish. Just like the doctor had said. So, Maxence lowered the heating, setting it back to normal, and filled a bowl with cold water. He grabbed a rag and walked back to the room. Elliot was sat down next to his mummy, looking concerned. Maxence plunged the rag in the cold water and wringed it before he carefully placed it on her forehead. She shivered, and her eyes fluttered open. She started panicking when she didn’t recognise the place she was in, but Maxence put a gentle hand on her shoulder and forced her to stay in bed. He cupped her cheek carefully. She was still very warm.

 

“Shh. It’s alright. You’re safe now.”

“Elliot…” she mumbled weakly.

“He’s here. I’m taking good care of him.” He wasn’t sure she really understood what he was saying. She seemed in a feverish delirium more than anything else. “You just need to rest and you will get better.” He pressed a soft kiss on her head. “You have nothing to worry about anymore.”

 

She relaxed at the kiss, and finally she fell back into a light sleep. Maxence gave Elliot the mission of watching over his mummy while he was greeting his friend. The little boy accepted, and Maxence could see how tired and worried he was. He ruffled his hair softly and walked out of the room. He opened the door to his friend and thanked him for doing this for him. He refused to explain what all of this meant. Not yet. He didn’t feel like being mocked again. He closed the door and locked it when his friend was gone and put everything down on the table. He read the prescription and prepared the medication Rose had to take. He took a bottle of water and walked back to the room. He sat Rose up a bit and made her swallow the meds. He laid her back down when he was sure she had swallowed it well, and he tucked the covers around her again.

 

“Come on, let’s eat a bit.”

 

Elliot nodded. He was starving. He hadn’t eaten in two days because Rose had nothing else to sell and she couldn’t take the risk of stealing something. She had taken a look into the outside bins and had found some edible food, but it wasn’t much. She had given it all to him and hadn’t eaten anything since Christmas. Elliot knew, though, that it would change now. Maxence wouldn’t let them go once again. He would keep them safe and take good care of them. The young boy followed Maxence into the kitchen. There were two pizza boxes on the table and it smelled absolutely good. He washed his hand just like Maxence asked him and sat down at the table.

 

“I didn’t feel like cooking so I hope you like pizza.”

“I ate pizza once. It didn’t smell that good.”

“Yeah, of course, it didn’t,” mumbled Maxence, almost cursing himself for that comment. The boy had probably never eaten a real good meal in all his life. “You’ll see. It’s amazing.”

 

Maxence opened a box and grabbed a slice of pizza. He placed it into a plate and gave it to Elliot. He put a larger slice in another plate for him. Elliot seemed pretty confused in front of that food that smelled amazing. He really wanted to bite in it and enjoyed it but he wasn’t sure if eating with his fingers was a good thing. He looked at Maxence uncertain.

 

“You can eat with your fingers,” laughed Maxence. “Look.”

 

He grabbed his slice and bit in it. He let out a loud moan because of how good it was. Elliot was just a young boy. Nobody would blame him for eating with his fingers, or for having food all over his face. That was normal for a kid. But Elliot was not like every other kids. He had had to grow up a bit faster, to become more mature than a six years old kid should be because of the life he was having. But it was over now. He was gonna have a stable life with his mother. Maxence would offer them that. Even if she didn’t accept his feelings, he would give her the best, because this woman and her son deserved the best after all they’d been through.

Elliot laughed and did the same as Maxence. He bit in the pizza and closed his eyes enjoying the taste of it on his tongue. That was just as wonderful as Maxence had told him it would be. Elliot didn’t remember eating something so good in his entire life. He forced himself not to eat too much though it was very good. His stomach wasn’t used to so much food and he knew he would get sick if he ever ate too much. When they were done, Maxence put the remaining slices of pizza in the same box and put it in the fridge. He checked on Rose once again. The fever hadn’t lowered, but it hadn’t gotten worse either. It was good, and she was sleeping good. He would watch over her all night if needed. That way, Elliot could get some sleep, knowing that someone was taking care of her. Maxence knew the little boy wouldn’t last very long. He was exhausted.

He spent some more time with Elliot in the spare room. They played cards while watching cartoons and when it started being really late, Maxence gave a new toothbrush and showed him how to use it. Then, he tucked him into bed with his Teddy bear and read him a bedtime story to help him sleeping. And for the very first time ever, Elliot felt like he had a daddy. A good daddy. And that thought made him fall into a deep and happy sleep. Maxence smiled at his sleeping form and kissed his forehead softly.

 

“Goodnight, buddy,” he whispered.

 

He walked out of the room silently and left the door ajar for the boy not to be in total darkness and to hear him if he needed something. He checked on Rose one last time and took off the wet rag. She was still warm, but it seemed okay. Maybe it wouldn’t go any worse in the night. He would stay awake most of the night to check on her as often as he could. He changed into his pyjamas and grabbed the book he was reading – well, he was actually revising his penal code. He laid down on the couch – he was still too tall for it but he wouldn’t have let Rose or Elliot sleep on it – and covered himself with a blanket. Then, he started reading in the silence of the flat.

It was around three or four in the morning – he had fallen asleep while reading and didn’t know how much time had passed by – when he felt shaken and when he heard someone calling him. He moaned, not wanting to move or to wake up, but the voice was insisting.

 

“Max! Wake up! Please! Mummy’s not good!”

 

When he recognised Elliot’s voice, Maxence immediately sat up and his book fell to the ground. The little boy was standing in front of him, sick with worry and tears rolling down on his cheeks, and desperately tried to get his attention. He had gotten up in the night to use the loo, and had gone to see his mother who wasn’t feeling good at all. He took Maxence’s hand and forced him to get up. He dragged him into the room Rose was sleeping in. Indeed, the blonde woman wasn’t feeling good. The fever was obviously worse and she was breathing heavily. He knew it was useless to send Elliot back to sleep now. He turned on the light and grabbed the meds in the kitchen before going back to Rose. The doctor had explained it all to him. He had known that this would happen, and Maxence now knew what he had to do.

The first step was to make the fever lower. He checked it with a thermometer and sighed. Higher and he would have had to take her to the casualty service. But he could handle this. He knew how. He asked Elliot to cool his mummy down with the rag just he had done earlier while he was getting the meds ready. Rose was half awake, but she was babbling incoherently. It was hard to get her attention, but she seemed to understand what he was telling her and drank the medication without protesting. Maxence woke her up every two hours to force her to drink so she would stay hydrated. When Elliot was too tired to stay awake, Maxence sent him back to bed and promised him that he would stay awake all night to help his mummy. Elliot trusted him. He knew Maxence would do anything for his mummy to get better. He didn’t sleep much though because of the nightmares, but Maxence was always there to comfort him.

Like he had promised, he stayed awake all night to keep Rose hydrated and to make the fever lower. She was suffering from coughing fits too, but he had everything by hand to help her the best he could. It took two full days and nights for the fever to finally come down, and Maxence stayed awake all along, taking care of Rose, taking care of Elliot. When he woke her up on the third morning to make her drink some more water, she recognised him and seemed very surprised to see him. Her first reaction though was to try and sit up and look for her son, but she was too weak and could only stay lying.

 

“You?” she asked weakly. “Where am I? Where is Elliot?”

“I’ll tell you the whole story later. All you need to know is that you’re safe from him now, and your little boy has been the bravest and nicest boy I’ve ever seen.”

 

He pointed a finger and she followed the move. Elliot was deeply asleep close to her, his hands gripping her shirt, making sure she was still here with him. She couldn’t help but have a small smile when she saw him. Her son must have prayed really hard for Maxence to find them. She knew how much he loved the guy, and how he had wanted to stay with him. She looked back at Maxence.

 

“Thanks.”

 

She couldn’t say much more and he just nodded. He told her to rest as much as she could and to call him if she needed anything else. She closed her eyes when he softly kissed her forehead. She could get used to that man, to his gentleness. She could hear him leaving the room and taking a shower before she fell asleep again wondering what she had done to deserve such a wonderful man.

Another couple of days passed by before she was strong enough to leave the room, and Maxence was really present for her. He helped her for absolutely everything, and she was often the silent witness of how good he was taking care of Elliot. She felt bad for invading his life, his flat and sending him on the couch where he was sleeping poorly – he didn’t say a thing but she could see how much tired he was and how much his body was sore – and didn’t know how to thank him for all he’d done. She got up one afternoon when she felt strong enough to and walked around the flat. She found him sleeping deeply in the couch while Elliot was sat on the ground, watching cartoons and drawing. There were papers and coloured pencils and felt tip all over the coffee table. She covered Maxence up with the blanket and sat down close to her son, wrapping him in her arms.

 

“Mummy!” exclaimed the boy very happy to see her up.

“Shh,” she told him, showing him that Maxence was sleeping. “Let’s not wake him up, alright?”

Elliot looked up at her, suddenly worried, “We’re not gonna run away again, huh, mummy?”

 

Rose bit her bottom lip lightly. The boy’s worry was clear on his face, and she knew why he was asking the question. He liked Maxence. He really liked him. He was good to them, and Elliot didn’t want them to run away like they did the first time. It would hurt him. Elliot wouldn’t be happy with his mummy if she chose to go away from Maxence once again. Couldn’t she see how good he was to her and for her?

 

“No, love, we’re not running away again. I just don’t want to wake him up. He’s very tired.”

 

Elliot nodded. He was relieved to know they wouldn’t run away again. He didn’t want to leave this place. Never. He felt very good here. Rose observed him as he kept drawing, assuming that Maxence had given him all of this for him to draw loads of drawings for her to get better soon. She kissed her son’s head and went to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, enjoying the warm water and relaxing completely. She felt much better. She looked at her old ripped dirty clothes while she was drying herself off. She couldn’t put them back on. They were good to burn now. But she couldn’t go around the flat naked either. She found a T-shirt and shorts of Maxence and hesitated. Would he be angry if she put them on? It would only be temporary of course. It seemed like he had bought some clothes and other things for Elliot. She put his clothes on. She would explain to him why later.

Then, she walked to the bedroom she had slept in for days and opened the curtains. She opened the window for the room to air. She found clean sheets in a cupboard and changed the dirty ones, which she tossed in the laundry when she was done. When she came back, Maxence was still asleep and Elliot hadn’t moved from his spot. He was focused on his drawings. She opened the fridge, hesitantly – she was hungry but wouldn’t dare stealing food from Maxence – and some of the cupboards. She decided to cook a dinner to thank him. He didn’t seem like a good cook according to the ready-prepared dish and pizza boxes she had seen, and she was quite a good one. She hadn’t cooked anything in a long time, but it wasn’t something she could forget. She had watched her mother cooking so many times it was engraved in her memory.

She wasn’t aware that the smell of food woke him up – he was quite a huge eater – and that he was sleepily smiling like an idiot when he saw her cooking in his kitchen and wearing his clothes. He didn’t move and didn’t talk. He just watched her as she cooked, occasionally looking at Elliot who was still drawing. He showed the boy not to make a sound and to act as if he was still asleep. Elliot took it as a game and he played it all along. It was Maxence’s stomach who betrayed though because it growled loudly. Both Rose and Elliot laughed.

 

“Hey!” he complained, pretending to be offended. “It’s never smelled so amazing in my flat before.”

 

It was useless to pretend he was still asleep now. He sat up and walked to the kitchen. He looked around to see what she was cooking, what was smelling so amazing. He stopped when he realised that she was looking at him and chewing her bottom lip. Oh, how much he wanted to kiss those lips again. He held the envy back though. She was nervous enough.

 

“I… I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for Elliot and me. I hope you don’t mind that I… I took your clothes and invaded your flat.”

“Are you gonna leave again without saying goodbye?”

 

His voice was serious and chewed her lip again. It would break his heart once again if she chose to leave. And he wasn’t sure if he would be fine ever again, if she decided to leave him. She looked over at Elliot, and shook her head lightly. Hope and relief made his heart leap in his chest.

 

“I’m gonna stay. As long as you will want me to.”

 

He bit his tongue not to say that he would keep her by his side forever. He would scare her. She needed to hear the full story first, and he would tell her when Elliot would be asleep. He just grinned at her and she smiled back him, more shyly. She went back to cooking while Maxence was taking his own shower and talking and drawing with Elliot. They all shared the dinner together and Rose couldn’t help herself but think that they looked like a small family. She laughed – a real laugh, and it felt so weird to be laughing again when she hadn’t done that in years – when Maxence started eating. He was moaning at how good the food was and ate three full plates of it. When they were done eating, he let Elliot have a moment with his mummy and took care of the dishes. He found them in the spare room – Elliot’s room now – playing cards, the young boy explaining his mother how to play.

He played with them for a few games, and when it was time for Elliot to sleep – Maxence had taught him how to read the hour on the small clock next to the TV – Rose watched her son going to the bathroom, changing into his pyjamas and brushing his teeth on his own before laying down in his bed. She watched Maxence tucking her son into bed, giving him his Teddy bear and grabbing a book. She politely refused to intervene in their ritual and let him read the new chapter of the story they had started just yesterday. She had tears in her eyes when she kissed her son goodnight. Elliot had fallen asleep almost after the end of the chapter. She rushed to the living room and sat down on the couch. She was crying when Maxence joined her there. It broke his heart. Had he done anything wrong? He sat down close to her and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

 

“Have I done something wrong?”

“No,” she replied, her voice muffled by her sobs. “You’re just so gentle with us, and I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve to be saved by you.”

 

Maxence didn’t reply immediately. She ignored that she was the one who had saved him from the lonely and cold-hearted life his parents wanted for him. She ignored that he had been inspired by her bravery, by her strength, by her bright personality. She ignored that he had slowly fallen in love with the homeless person he had so many times observed. He just let her sob into his chest, and when she started telling him her so sad story, he listened to her quietly, rubbing her back, rocking her slowly, comforting her.

And tonight, while he was holding her in his arms, he chose to be honest and to tell her everything. He told her his story, his so boring story, and told her how he had seen her once in the streets and how she had changed his life forever. She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t accept that this man so gentle and so warm could have been raised in a family so harsh and so cold-hearted where only arranged marriages with no feelings were allowed. She couldn’t accept that he had been so hurt by his family mocking him and bullying him for being so different from them. And when he started telling her about his feelings, she felt the familiar warmth of her memories slipping into her mind. She had loved that kiss, but she had ignored how much time he had expected it to happen and how much he had loved it.

 

“I should have come to you earlier,” he finally admitted, wiping away her tears.

“S’ alright,” she shrugged.

 

She was still cuddling into him, and he hadn’t let go of her. He hadn’t even loosened his embrace. She closed her eyes, not quite sure that everything was real, and just focused on his heartbeats, on his breathing, on his voice.

 

“No. He wouldn’t have found you again if I had come earlier.”

“How did you find me?”

“Oh, pretty easily actually.”

 

He let go of her and kissed her head. She shivered at the sudden loss of his warmth and brought her knees to her chest. She watched him as he got up and walked to his coat. He put his hand in his pocket and grabbed something she couldn’t see until he came back to her. Her necklace. She pressed a hand on her throat suddenly realising she wasn’t wearing it anymore.

 

“I saw that you had kept it and thought that you might try to sell it get some money for food.”

“No. I couldn’t… I couldn’t bring myself to sell it.”

“But he tried. Unfortunately for him I was there, and he couldn’t sell it because it didn’t belong to him. I had all the proofs. It didn’t take long before he told me where you were.”

 

He fastened the necklace back around her neck and they watched it for a moment. It was late and they were both tired now. Rose refused to see Maxence sleep on the couch once more, and ordered him to get his room back. She would take the couch for tonight. He was stubborn and refused, and the only deal he offered her was them sharing the same bed. She hesitated, not feeling quite ready yet to get involved with someone again, but ended up accepting. He showed her that he had kept the pyjamas and clothes he had bought for her on Christmas but she chose to keep his T-shirt and shorts for the night. Later, they found themselves laying in bed, a bit embarrassed but really not wanting to see the other sleep on the couch, and when Maxence kissed her head and told her goodnight, she chose to stop being afraid and giving him a chance. She pressed her lips against his, enjoying this kiss just as much as the first one they’d shared, and curled up against him. She fell asleep while he was wrapping his arms around her, ignoring how happy she had left him, and feeling better than ever. The fate was finally holding a hand out to her, and it felt good to be protected and loved by a man like Maxence Spitz.


	3. Us against the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They were quite a lovely family on the outside, but they weren’t a family. It wasn’t only because of Rose. She was accepting Maxence and his help. So was Elliot. The real problem was Maxence’s family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was definitely inspired by the show _Blackout_ and the movie _Panic room_.  
>    
>  And, finally! Months after "Forget me not", here's the third part of _We don't wanna be like them_. Pretty long, but I hope you'll like it the way you've liked the first two ones.

A few months had passed by since Rose and Elliot had been taken in by Maxence. Life was easier for them now that they had someone watching over them and protecting them from everything bad that could happen to them. Rose had needed time – still needed time – to heal after her last encounter with Jimmy, and Maxence was nice enough to give her all the time she needed. By living together, they were getting to know each other better and the more they were getting to know each other, the more they liked each other. Maxence already was in love with her before they met properly, and now, he loved even more the young and strong girl she was. They were just friends though. They hadn’t crossed the line because Rose wasn’t ready to date someone yet. She still had nightmares about Jimmy Stone and she always found comfort in Maxence’s arms whenever it happened.

Elliot was also plagued with nightmares. Learning what kind of man really was his father had shaken him badly. He had tried to be strong for his mother, but the images of the terrifying waste full of uncontrolled rage were haunting him along with the screams of his mother when he was beating her to death. He often woke up at night, screaming and crying, begging for the violence to stop. And every time it happened, he found comfort and safety in his mother’s arms or Maxence’s. Maxence wasn’t his father, but Elliot always wished he was, because he was just like the kid imagined a dad should be. He was taking care of the little boy very well and was always finding time to play with him and teach him new things. He had found a great school for him when Elliot had the good level to be with kids of his age. But it still was hard to fit in.

They were quite a lovely family on the outside, but they weren’t a family. It wasn’t only because of Rose. She was accepting Maxence and his help. So was Elliot. The real problem was Maxence’s family. He had talked to the blonde about them and she had met them once or twice. They were really proud and cold people. That was what Maxence hated about his family. Their cold hearts. Their proudness. Their rules. Just because they were rich people, they thought they could only interact with the other rich people. They thought that the poor people were only trying to use them and their money. So when they had heard that Maxence had taken in a homeless girl and her son, they had been mad and had tried to make him change his mind. But he never did no matter how hard they had tried to convince him. Which had caused them to be in bad terms, much to Rose’s guilt. She had never wanted him to be separated from his family because of her.

However, they never talked about it. Whenever Rose was trying to bring him back together with his family, he was pretending that he would think about it but never made the first step. Sometimes, he could be as proud as them and that wasn’t a compliment. They hadn’t made the first step either and if they saw each other by accident, they pretended nothing had happened so the medias wouldn’t have any suspicion and let them in peace. Maxence was already harassed enough for being the kind man he was because he had rescued a mother and her child and decided to be responsible for them. He had never given any information about Rose and Elliot. He was keeping them protected from the vultures the medias were, and with time, they had calmed down. They could live almost peacefully and Rose could go out and take Elliot to school with no worries. Well, almost.

There still were threats above their heads after all. Maxence was a famous lawyer and his cases were always difficult and very opened to debates. He was working against the worst criminals, people rotten to the core, and ready to anything to get out of justice. Rose was always afraid for him whenever he was on one of those cases because he received a lot of death threats. He usually just laughed and pushed the subject away. He didn’t care about the threats. So far, nothing had been attempted against him. He was being very careful, and making sure that his place was safe for himself and for his protégés. He wouldn’t risk his life or theirs. If he ever felt any kind of danger, he would make sure they all were safe. He hadn’t talked to Rose about it yet, but he did have a panic room. Just in case.

There was another threat they couldn’t ignore. Jimmy Stone. They hadn’t seen him since Maxence had brought Rose and Elliot back to his flat but the blonde was convinced that he was gonna come back when they would expect it the least. So, she was always looking around her to make sure he wasn’t there when she was outside. She knew Jimmy very well. She knew he would come back. Maxence believed her and had told some of his cop friends to look for him. The devil was well hidden. There was no sign of him, but they couldn’t let their guard down. Rose had lived in terror of him for years and she knew better than anyone what he was capable of. And now that he knew she was still in town, now that he knew he had a son, he would do anything to have them back. Or leave them for dead.

Lately, Maxence had had a lot of work and wasn’t spending much time at all at home. He was leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night. And then, he was working even more to prepare the best defence speech possible. He was exhausted but every case was important. Especially the one he was currently working on. However, he was making sure to always leave the fridge and cupboards full of food so Rose wouldn’t have to go out much except for Elliot. He knew how scared she was of meeting Jimmy and he was making sure that wouldn’t happen. He had even offered to give her the protection of the police but she had refused because she didn’t want to draw more attention on them. Having a police officer following her everywhere would be more dangerous than anything. She was being careful, very careful, whenever she was going out.

Today was Maxence’s last day on working on his current case. The trial was ending that morning and then, he would take a few days off to rest and relax. If he was winning that case, he would definitely go and have a drink with a few friends before going home. But he would let Rose know about his projects so she wouldn’t be worried about him not being back after his job was done. The trial was very covered. The news would talk about it and the reporters would jump on him and harass him with questions as soon as he would be out of the courthouse. A routine he had gotten a little bit too much used to over the years. Never meant that he liked it. That’s why he usually kept it short whenever he was being interviewed. The shorter, the better.

The verdict was pronounced, and the relief filled him. He had won. His client hugged him and thanked him for all the work he had done to throw that lousy swine behind the bars. Soon enough, they were outside. Maxence was temporarily blinded by the daylight. He hadn’t seen it on days. It wasn’t a particularly beautiful day. They had said there would be rain. But who cared anyway? Maxence enjoyed the small second of respite before the reporters started asking him questions and almost knocking him out with their booms and cameras. He was overwhelmed with flashes, but he didn’t show anything. He only gave them a tired smile.

 

“It has been a tough fight but we’ve finally come to the end of it. The acts of Mr. Dorneget were highly reprehensible in terms of the law. It was a real threat for our beloved country, a threat that never has been bothered by our forces of law and order because no clue has been found. Until my client found out about his boss’ illegal activities in the accounts of his society and reported it to the authorities, exposing himself to the dangers of dismissal, harassment, and worse, threats and intimidation. However, Mr. Peters never gave up and provided us all the proofs we needed to stop Mr. Dorneget’s actions and to arrest all his associates. Today, they will all be sent to jail thanks to my client, and peace will be back in our streets–”

 

Maxence was cut short by a gun shot. After that, everything seemed to slow down. A few more gun shots resounded and the panic made people running away to put themselves to safety. There were screams and people falling and stuff given up. No one saw the shooter. It could have been anyone in the crowd. An investigation would be led later to find the responsible. Some people would never get back on their feet after that attack, and one of those persons was Maxence.

He didn’t see it coming. That first bullet went into his left shoulder, ripping the fabric of his clothes and burning his skin. The sudden impact and pain caused him to stumble backwards and fall on his back on the steps of stone. All the air was expelled from his lungs and he found himself suffocating there while everyone ran away. To top it all off, it started raining and the drops of water were washing away the blood he was losing really too quickly.

 

×

 

When Maxence opened his eyes, he thought he was at home, in his own bed. He was comfortable and warm. Just like when Rose was sleeping next to him. So, his first reflex was to roll on his side. He knew it was a bad idea when the pain exploded in his shoulder, causing him to grunt loudly. He closed his eyes tight and clenched his jaw as a hand pushed him in the bed. He breathed slowly, waiting for pain to become more bearable. He wouldn’t be able to think clearly with such a pain paralysing his whole body and taking his breath away. What the hell had happened to him? He remembered being at the courthouse. Had something happened during the trial? He wouldn’t be surprised to have been attacked. Dorneget had threatened him a few times and he had enough money to buy someone to kill him, especially if he knew he was gonna lose.

He was now able to listen to everything around him. There was a regular beep very close to him and someone turning the pages of some magazine. He could feel something burning his skin around his left shoulder, where the pain was the worse, and something was pinching his left hand. Farther, he could hear people coming and going, talking indistinctly. The smell of bleach and antiseptic was what confirmed him that he was in a hospital. He opened his eyes and turned his head toward the person sat by his side. He thought that it was Rose, but he should have known better. His family had obviously kept her away, and not in a nice way. She probably hadn’t had any news about him since he was there. Did she even know he was there?

 

“Mother.”

 

His father had most likely chosen to not waste his time in visiting his son while he was stuck in a hospital bed, but someone had to come over and see if he was still alive. His mother didn’t have much of a choice and she seemed pretty annoyed to be sat there. She hadn’t even looked at him yet. She was reading a magazine about the British finance. Not surprising at all. How to get richer when you were already rich was the only thing that mattered in that family.

 

“You could have avoided this, Maxence.”

“Sure. It’s so easy to avoid someone shooting you in the middle of a crowd.”

 

Now that he was more awake, he remembered bit by bit what had happened to him. He had been shot while he was talking to the reporters after winning the trial. But nothing was proving that he was the target. It could have been anyone. His client could have been the main target, but it wasn’t logic to kill him after the end of the trial. Maxence was second on the list. Maybe a revenge?

 

“It could have been the case of your career. You could have gotten all the laurels for throwing that threat behind the bars. Instead, you’re on the front pages because your client is dead and everyone thinks you are too. Nice advertising. We are overwhelmed with those vultures.”

“Sorry for almost dying.”

“Stop being so sarcastic, Maxence. There’s nothing to be proud of.”

“You weren’t forced to come here if I am causing our family so much bother. I would have handled the situation very well on my own.”

“Sure you would have. And that blonde slut…”

“Don’t call her a slut,” growled Maxence.

“… would have been there,” continued the mother. “She was the one you expected to see, right?”

“I’m not having that talk again.”

 

Maxence closed his eyes and clenched his jaw tighter. He hadn’t forced her to come there. She hadn’t even looked at him once since he was awake. She was just annoyed to be there when she could have been elsewhere. What a warm and comforting mother she was!

 

“I told her not to come here. We don’t need more scandals around you. She has called every hour to know how you were doing until I told her to stop.”

 

She let out an annoyed sigh. Amazing how insisting the woman could be. Since she wasn’t family, the hospital hadn’t wanted to tell her anything, but that wasn’t an answer the blonde accepted. Until she was rudely told to stay away from Maxence.

 

“You haven’t just told her to stop calling,” Maxence accused his mother.

“I asked her to stay away from you and to go back to her miserable life with the no-mark she had a kid with.”

“You what?” roared Maxence.

 

He sat up, ignoring the sting of pain in his whole arm and the ear splitting sound of the alarm coming from the machine measuring his heartbeats when the sensors were ripped from his chest by the sudden move. He was absolutely furious against his mother. She still wasn’t looking at him. As if she wasn’t caring about the fact he was in a hospital, about the fact she had hurt his feelings.

 

“You had no right to do that! Absolutely no right! I’m an adult! I can take my own decisions and saving their lives by offering them to stay at my place was my right!”

“She’s a pest to our family.”

“That’s it?! That’s what you’ve told him when you threw him out that night?! That he was a pest to our family?!”

“That has nothing to do with the matter.”

“That has everything to do with the matter! You don’t like us to be different! You want us to go _your_ way! But Tegan refused and you threw him out with nothing more than just the clothes on his back!”

 

The pain forced him to stop there. Otherwise, he would have continued. He had so much anger in him right now. He was tired to always live by the Spitz’s rules. He wanted more. More than the cold heartless future he was promised to. His mother was gonna answer but a nurse came into the room at that moment. She forced Maxence to lay back down. The man was exhausted and breathless by the sudden effort he had made.

 

“You can’t make so many efforts, Mr Spitz,” she lightly reprimanded him, putting the sensors back on his chest. “You don’t want us to suture you again, right?”

“I want her out of here,” he muttered weakly. “I don’t want to see her in my room anymore.”

“You sure?”

“Don’t you dare,” the mother threatened her son.

“Please.”

 

The nurse nodded. She looked at the woman sat on the chair. She wasn’t happy at all with her son. For the first time since she was there, she had raised her eyes from her magazine. She was glaring at her son who was ignoring her. He had his eyes closed and was trying to catch his breath and make the pain disappear.

 

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m gonna have to ask you to leave this room. Mr Spitz needs all the rest he can get.”

 

The mother glared at her son and at the nurse before she furiously got up and left the room refusing to let the nurse touch her. Maxence sighed and closed his eyes as the nurse was replacing the sensors on his chest and adjusting the pain medication.

 

“How long have I been out?” he asked her.

“Two days, sir. You’ve had surgery. They took the bullet out.”

“Any damage?”

“You’ve been lucky. It was close to your heart. But no complications. You’ll need some re-education, but that is all.”

 

Maxence thanked her for her help and let her do her job. She checked on him, made him move his fingers and arm. It hurt and it was really hard to do it but it was moving. The nurse massaged his whole arm and changed his bandage. He didn’t look at the wound. He would see the scar later. A reminder that he shouldn’t be so confident about his safety. Right now, he had something else in mind. Someone to call.

 

“Can you do something for me?”

“Sure. What is it?”

 

He gave her three names and two phone numbers with instructions. He would have called himself if his previous talk with his mother hadn’t left him so weak and exhausted. But the nurse would do it for him. She would reassure Rose and Elliot and call someone to keep them safe until he came back. Which would take some time.

 

×

 

Rose was helping Elliot with his homework when someone knocked on the door. She tensed. Lately, she had been on alert. But it was worse since two days, since Maxence had been attacked. She had learnt it through the news and had desperately tried to call the hospital to know how he was doing. Until Mrs Spitz clearly told her that she wasn’t part of the family and needed to stay away from her son. It hurt, but Rose had obeyed. She hadn’t called anymore, and had just worried alone in Maxence’s flat. She hadn’t told Elliot. She had just told him that Maxence’s work would last longer than expected and that he wouldn’t come home for a few days. To be honest, she didn’t know how long she would be able to lie. Elliot would see it at some point. She wouldn’t be able to hide it from him for too long. He would find out soon, but she wanted to be the one telling him. It would be easier now that she knew Maxence was okay.

 

“Stay here, okay?”

 

She kissed her son’s head and got up. She left Elliot’s room – Maxence had given up on his playroom for the little boy to have a real room – and walked to the front door. She took a look through the peephole. Standing in the corridor was a tall brown man rather handsome. He didn’t seem to be dangerous but Rose still was on alert. She couldn’t take any risk. Not with Elliot so close.

 

“Miss Tyler? I’m Tegan Smith. My brother must have called you to tell you about me coming.”

 

That was true. The nurse she had had on the phone had told her the same. Maxence wanted Rose to know that he was okay, that he was gonna have to stay a few days in the hospital. However, he was sending her someone to watch over her and Elliot. His brother, Tegan Smith. Someone he trusted with his life. She could trust him too. He would never betray them. Rose trusted Maxence and if he said she could do the same with his brother, she saw no good reason to not believe him. She just hadn’t expected the man to look so different from Maxence. The mystery of life and genetics. None of them looked like any of their parents though. She pushed the thought aside and unlocked the door. The man gave her a bright smile. He was carrying two full bags of food.

 

“I’ve done some shopping. Unlike Max, I’m a very good cook,” he declared, walking in the flat.

 

He went straight to the kitchen and started putting away the food he had bought. He checked his watch and decided that it was time to start cooking dinner. Rose closed the door and locked it again. She hadn’t said a thing yet and Elliot hadn’t moved from his room. But she was sure he was listening closely. Always keeping an eye on his mummy, him.

 

“I heard you had a boy. What’s his name?”

“Elliot.”

“Max is wonderful with kids. Always have.”

“Indeed. He could be a good father.”

“Never found the good woman. Well, he seems very smitten when it comes to you.”

 

Rose blushed. She knew exactly what were Maxence’s feelings for her. He had admitted it all to her after he saved her from Jimmy and from the streets. She had accepted them but couldn’t promise to be ready for another relationship anytime soon. She hated herself for making him wait for her that way. She had the feeling that she was using him and she hated that. She really liked him but didn’t know how to tell him or show him. The man was too gentle with her, keeping her safe and protected, making sure she felt loved. A real prince charming.

 

“I now better understand why.”

“He never told me he had a brother,” she said to change the subject.

 

She didn’t want Tegan Smith – why did he have a different name anyway? – to know what her relationship with his brother truly was. She didn’t want him to think that she was just a whore using Maxence for his name and money, just like his parents thought she was.

 

“That’s not surprising. I’m sort of the ugly duckling of that family.”

“But he called you.”

“Max and I are very close but we’re hiding it from everyone for our parents not to know it.”

 

Now that she was thinking of it, Rose remembered that he hadn’t been there at Christmas, and no one had talked about him. What had he done to be excluded from his own family? For his brother to keep silent about him? He didn’t seem like a bad guy, but his parents didn’t need much to be angry at someone. Rose was very aware of that.

 

“I’ll tell you the whole story later if you want. Go back to your little boy. I’m taking care of the dinner.”

 

Rose just acquiesced. She was curious about Tegan’s story but she wouldn’t ask any question. It would be very impolite of her to harass him with questions when he barely knew her. He was gentle and nice though. Just like Maxence. Maybe a bit funnier. Oddball, in a good way. Getting to know him would be great. If he stayed around long enough for her to do so. It would be sad to have him leave so soon after she found about him. But it wasn’t up to her.

She walked to Elliot’s room and came in. Like she had expected, Elliot had been waiting behind the door, listening to whoever was in the flat with her. He had run back to the desk as soon as she had started walking back to his room, and now, he was pretending to be working on his homework. But Rose wasn’t dupe. She knew how her son was.

 

“How is that writing exercise going?” she asked.

“It sucks,” replied the boy, looking up at his mother. “Who is it? Where is Max?”

 

Rose sat down on the chair next to Elliot and took his hand in hers gently. She was gonna tell him the truth. Kind of. She was biting her bottom lip. It meant she was nervous. Immediately, Elliot knew something had happened to their protector, to the man he considered as his dad. Tears sparkled at the corner of his eyes, and Rose felt her heart break. She hated seeing him sad.

 

“Is Max okay?”

 

His voice was trembling and tears were threatening to fall. Rose was not surprised that her son had figured out so quickly why Maxence was absent. The real reason. Elliot was very clever and he hadn’t gotten it from his father. But she didn’t think he had gotten that from her either. She wasn’t that clever in her opinion. She was pretty stupid compared to Maxence and her own son.

 

“Listen, honey, something has happened to Max while he was working and he was taken to the hospital.”

 

Fear burnt in Elliot’s eyes. His worst nightmares were coming to reality. Was the Jimmy guy responsible? Had he hurt Maxence to get to them? Would he care for them? No, Maxence wouldn’t let them down. He would never tell the enemy where to find them. No matter what would be done to him.

 

“He’s okay. He called me when you were at school. They’re keeping him a few days to be sure he won’t have problems and then, he will come back home. He said he would call tonight for the bedtime story.”

“Who’s the guy in the kitchen?”

“His name’s Tegan Smith. He’s Max’s brother.”

 

Elliot’s eyes were still full of worries but a spark of curiosity and joy suddenly brightened them. He was curious about Maxence’s brother. Maxence had told him about Tegan once. It had just slipped out of his mouth while they were playing together, but he never said anything more. As if Tegan Smith was a secret to keep. A secret that would be clearer in the days to come it seemed like.

 

“He’s gonna stay with us until Max comes back.”

“Can we see him?”

“He said not to go to the hospital. He promised to be back soon.”

 

Elliot looked disappointed but he understood. Maxence wanted them safe. They had to keep living their routine without him. Until he came back. He hoped it wouldn’t take long because he already missed the man. But he was okay and Elliot was relieved about that. He kissed his mother’s hand and focused back on his exercise. He did it all the best he could with his mother’s help. When his homework was done, he took his bath and got ready for dinner. He immediately liked Tegan when he saw him. They got along as well as they did with Maxence. They weren’t brothers for nothing those two. However, Tegan was indeed better than Maxence at cooking and Elliot ate two plates of food. Tegan told them a lot of stories about Maxence, stories from their past, stories that showed them he had always been the way he was with them. Despite how harsh and cold their family had wanted him to become to fit their standards.

Just like he had promised, when bedtime rolled around, Maxence called to tell a story to Elliot like he did every night. The little boy was already in bed after he brushed his teeth. He talked with Maxence for a while before he listened to the brand new story that would send him to sleep. Rose picked up the phone when her son was asleep and kissed his head. She left the room, leaving the door ajar. Maxence was still on line.

 

_“How are you doing?”_

“It’s hard without you but we’re holding on. You’ve got us worried.”

_“I know. I’m sorry. The decision wasn’t mine. I would never have let you in the dark.”_

“She really hates me, doesn’t she?” Rose noticed sadly.

_“She doesn’t want to see the amazing person you are.”_

“They’ve drugged you, heh?”

 _“Nah,”_ he retorted. _“Okay. Maybe just a little. I don’t sleep well because of the pain and… because I miss you by my side.”_

“I miss you too,” admitted Rose.

_“I’ll be home soon.”_

“I hope so.”

_“I hope my brother isn’t discrediting me and saying stuff he shouldn’t.”_

“He’s nice. Elliot likes him.”

_“And you?”_

“He’s kinda cool.”

_“Oi! Don’t play that game with me or I’m coming back, healed or not.”_

“Goodnight, Maxence.”

_“Goodnight, Rose.”_

 

Rose hung up the phone and pressed it to her heart, a smile on her lips. That man was so precious. She wasn’t very well to know that he was alone in a hospital room, suffering from the surgery he had gone through. She wished she could be by his side, tuck him to bed and take care of him like he had taken care of her all over the months. Especially after he had saved her from a certain death between the hands of Jimmy Stone. She wanted him there. She wanted to see his smile, his blue eyes. She wanted to feel his arms around her and run her fingers through his hair. She wanted to hear his heartbeats and fall asleep to their rhythm. But she would have to wait. And she felt sad for him more than for herself.

She walked to the living room and put the phone down on its base. Her smile hadn’t left her lips. Tegan was still in the kitchen. He was putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and adding the needed tablet in it. He closed the door and launched the machine. His eyes drifted on the fridge. He hadn’t paid much attention to it earlier. Maxence used every available area to pin his documents to be able to work in every room he was coming in. But it wasn’t any professional document on the fridge. Nor anywhere else in the flat. The fridge was covered in kids’ drawings and pictures. School pictures of the boy, pictures of Maxence and Rose, a picture of them three. A real little family. It made him smile. Maxence looked really happy. He had never been into family stuff – because of how he had been raised – but he seemed to do well. And according to the smile on the blonde’s face, everyone was happy in that flat.

 

“It was Elliot’s first time at the zoo,” explained Rose, pointing to a picture of her son, grinning in front of the tigers pen. “His first day at school.” Another picture. “This one was a week ago. Elliot insisted on adding a picture of the three of us.”

“You look happy.”

“I guess I am. Your brother is an amazing man.”

“Always has been. You guess?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Everyone’s story is complicated.”

“I’ve been in an abusive relationship which destroyed my self-confidence and trust in men. What about you, Mr Smith?”

“Call me Tenny.”

“We don’t know each other enough, Mr Smith.”

“Let me tell you my story then.”

 

Tegan put an arm around Rose’s shoulders. She flinched and he pulled his arm away, apologising to her. He followed her to the living-room and sat down on the couch. Rose sat down too, leaving a small space between them. She looked at Tegan. He was staring at an invisible point on the wall, gathering the right words to tell his story. He wanted to do it short, but well.

 

“It’s a long story short. I’ve found out I was gay when I was around fourteen. I was afraid to tell my family because I knew how they would react. They have their own rules.”

“Yeah. Maxence told me about the arranged marriages.”

“Of course. He’s the favourite for those ladies. Handsome, gentle and clever.”

“What happened for you?”

“They reacted the way I thought they would.” He had a small sad laugh. “I don’t give you the details of that talk, nor the comments that have been made.” Nor the insults that were still resounding in his nightmares. “But they’ve kicked me out that night. Because I wasn’t fitting their standards.”

“You were fourteen, how could they…”

“You’ve met them. You already know.”

“I’m an adult. You were just a kid.”

“It didn’t matter to them. They threw me out with nothing else but the clothes on my back. It was hard at first but Max helped me a lot behind our parents’ back.”

 

Rose didn’t reply. She knew exactly what the man had felt. She had gone through it too. She had left on her own will but she had been alone and scared. Living in the streets was hard, whether you were a twenty-four years old pregnant woman or a fourteen years old boy. She now felt more liking for the man. Just like her, he was a survivor, a fighter. How had he survived outside, alone? Who had saved him from the streets? Was it Maxence?

 

“He has helped me the best he could but sometimes, he couldn’t. Anyway, I’ve met a woman while I was looking into the bins for food. Instead of throwing me rocks, she let me inside of her house and took care of me until I was able to get my A-levels. Even after. I got more support and love from that woman and her husband than from my own parents. They didn’t even judge me when they found out I was gay. They are extraordinary, brilliant. I felt really connected to them.”

“They sound like great people.”

“They truly are. They said they would have loved it if their children had grown up like me.”

“You’ve met them?”

“Unfortunately, no. They couldn’t keep them. They didn’t have the money to raise any of the children they had, but a wealthy family accepted to raise them. They couldn’t have children so they bought them.”

 

Rose was disgusted by that way of acting. You couldn’t just buy a child whenever you wanted one. Those people must have been in a really desperate situation to give their children against a lot of money. But Rose was starting to get where Tegan was going. She understood the real story of Tegan Smith, and maybe the real story of Maxence Spitz.

 

“This family, it was the Spitz’s, right?”

 

Tegan looked at her, surprised by her words. She had figured it out quickly. She was clever. Really clever. He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed deeply.

 

“Maxence doesn’t know it but yeah. We’ve both been adopted. Those people who took me in… They are our real parents. The Spitz, they were supposed to give them pictures of Max and I as we grew up. But they never did. The poor couple has waited for news they never got until I found out about the truth. They were really happy to see me, to have news from Max – other than through the news. They got a better situation from the money they were given, but they’ve always regretted the deal that has been made. They said they had felt that they weren’t good people. If only they knew the truth.”

 

Rose felt really sad for him now. And for Maxence. He ignored the truth and was living in a family he hated. They sure had helped him to do the studies he wanted, to have a great job, to be sort of famous. But he wasn’t happy in his life. If he had been raised by the nice couple his biological parents were, maybe it would have changed it all for him.

 

“I’m so sorry, Tegan. I’m so sorry for all you’ve been through.”

“I’m happy now. That’s all that matters.”

 

He couldn’t say the same about Maxence. Maybe he was a bit more now, but inside down, he still was hurt. Deeply hurt. Maybe Rose could heal that wound that had dug his heart over the years. If she couldn’t, no one would ever be able to fix the amazing man Maxence was. But Tegan had a feeling that she would be the perfect woman for his brother.

 

“Will you tell him?”

“I wanted to. But that’s not up to me. Joanne, our real mother, wrote a letter for him. I have to give it to him. But I don’t think it’s the right time to upset his whole life.”

“You’re right.”

 

Rose yawned tiredly. It was starting to be late but she was thankful that Tegan had honestly told her his story. She scooted closer to him and gave him a tight hug. Tegan hugged her back. They were both seeking comfort in that moment and that hug was more than welcomed.

 

“I’m taking the couch,” she declared when they broke the hug. “You can have the room.”

“No.” Tegan shook his head. “Maxence wouldn’t want me to take you away from his bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“I can also sleep with Elliot.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be just fine here.”

 

He tapped the couch with a smile. He was stubborn. Just like Maxence. She was no better, but tonight, she didn’t have the strength to fight him so she let him win. He was gonna sleep on the couch. She brought him a pillow and a blanket and put it down on the sofa.

 

“Have a goodnight, Tegan.”

“Goodnight, Rose.”

 

The blonde kissed his cheek and left for the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and changed into her pyjamas. She went straight to bed, and curled up under the covers. She glanced at the empty place beside her. She imagined him there, laying on his side, a strand of hair across his forehead, a soft smile on his lips. He would cup her cheek with his large hand and stroked her lips with his thumb. She would push the strand of hair away from his forehead and smile at him in return. Slowly, she would come closer to him and snuggle up to him. He would wrap his arms around her and roll on his back so she could put her head on his chest. She would close her eyes and fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeats. But tonight, she didn’t have him. She had to sleep alone. Until he came back. She was counting the hours.

 

×

 

It took a week, a few re-education sessions and a lot of pain for Maxence to be allowed to come home. He had painkillers to take, and re-education sessions to go to but he was good enough to go home. Finally. Since he couldn’t drive himself, Tegan had come to pick him up at the hospital. He stopped at the chemist for Maxence’s meds and medical supplies, and went straight to Maxence’s flat. He helped him upstairs.

 

“I have to warm you. The boy has missed you a lot.”

“His name’s Elliot.”

“He’s overexcited to see you again.”

“I can imagine.”

“Never thought you’d end up with kids.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“I know. I’ve talked with Rose.”

“So you know everything.”

“Everything she has wanted to say.”

“And she knows everything.”

“Yep.”

“You’ve never known how to keep secrets, T.”

 

Tegan grinned at his brother. He sure was the worst at keeping secrets, but there was one secret he was keeping away from Maxence. That secret would shatter his life if he knew. And yet, he had to know. Maybe he would be happier if he knew the truth about his origins. But now wasn’t the time. Now, he needed to take all the rest he could and get better. Later, perhaps. Rose had promised to help him with that. When the right time would come. Over the week, they had become good friends. Tegan understood better what Maxence was seeing in her. His pink and yellow girl.

Tegan knocked on the door. A code to tell Rose that they were there. Elliot was the one opening the door. He smiled wildly when he saw Maxence and ran to him. He jumped in his arms and Maxence caught him despite his wounded arm and the pain. He hugged the boy, but his face was twisted with pain. He was making an effort not to make a sound and worry the boy. Tegan admired his brother’s strength to keep his pain silent.

 

“I’ve missed you so much,” murmured Elliot in his neck. “I was scared.”

“It’s okay. I’m here now.”

 

Maxence stepped in the flat with Tegan’s help. It felt good to be back home. He was obviously off duty until he felt better. An inquiry was following its way to find out who had shot him. But no one had any clue at all. The shooter had vanished into thin air. Maxence had a lot of enemies with all the persons he has sent to jail and condemned to any other sentences with his skills of lawyer. He was good at it and the criminals hated him. There was a lot of people to see and interview. They would never find him or her. Maxence was very aware of that.

 

“Elliot,” sighed Rose. She had come out of the shower as soon as possible when she heard them. “I’ve told you to be careful.”

“I’m alright.”

“You don’t look alright.”

 

Maxence gave her a tired smile and sat down on the couch. He couldn’t be alright after a week in a hospital. He had had to go through surgery, pain, re-education and police interviews alone. And he had gotten angry at his mother. He hadn’t slept that well. So he was exhausted. But it would be better now that he was with his real family.

Rose gave a nod to Tegan to thank him for taking Maxence home safely. It also was a silent way to tell each other what to do next. They didn’t need words. What they had to do was obvious. Tegan walked to the kitchen. Dinner was on him tonight. It would be a simple one. No one expected Maxence to eat much anyway. Rose sat down next to Maxence and forced Elliot to let go of the poor man. The little boy obeyed but stayed sat on Maxence’s lap. Maxence wrapped his non-wounded arm around Rose’s shoulders and pulled her closer. They all remained there, silent, for a long moment. They simply enjoyed that moment of them being together again. A little family like Tegan had said, maybe one day had replied Rose. If only she could get over the block Jimmy had created in her heart and mind. She wished she could make Maxence happy. She wished she could give him what he wanted.

When Maxence leaned his head back and closed his eyes, Rose noticed his face was still twisted with pain. He was suffering. Silently, so they wouldn’t worry about him. She slowly ran her fingers through his hair and traced his hairy jawline. She kissed his temple softly.

 

“Let me take care of you this time, okay?”

 

Maxence didn’t protest though he felt bad to have her taking care of him when he had promised her to be the one doing it. Rose sent Elliot to the kitchen for him to help Tegan. The little boy wasn’t happy with that but he obeyed anyway. Rose helped Maxence up and led him to the bathroom. She sat him down on the toilet seat and left the room, only to come back with a pile of clean clothes and the bag full of bandages and disinfectant for his wound. She grabbed a flannel but he caught her hand.

 

“If you don’t mind, I prefer a shower. I’ve had sponge bathes every day this week.”

“Can you take it on your own or do you need help?”

“I can try.”

 

Rose had never seen him naked and he could feel that it was embarrassing her to see him naked right now. He had seen her whole body when he was bathing her when she couldn’t do it on her own after Jimmy had beaten her down. He remembered her thin body which now was getting beautiful curves since she wasn’t starving anymore. He knew what was under her clothes, but she didn’t know what was under his, and she was too respectful of him to take advantage of the situation. He took off the sling and put it aside. His T-shirt and shoes followed the same way. The wound was hiding under a thick bandage. He would keep it for the shower and change it after. He slowly pulled off his pants. All of that was pulling on the threads of his wound but he didn’t complain. Rose turned around when his boxers and socks were taken off. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water. He closed his eyes and let the water flow on his body. He had wanted that shower for what felt like forever. But when he tried to grab the shampoo, the pain brought him back to reality. He groaned and placed his hand on his painful shoulder.

 

“You alright?” asked Rose, worried.

“I don’t think I can do it,” he admitted.

 

Rose didn’t hesitate. She could hear he was in pain. She took off all her clothes and grabbed the small plastic stool Elliot was using to brush his teeth. She stepped in the shower, keeping her eyes on his face. She put the stool down and gently forced Maxence to sit on it. He did, silently, almost ashamed, but she said nothing. She started massaging his head with some shampoo. Maxence closed his eyes and enjoyed her hands on his head. She rinsed his hair and her hands were now stroking his neck. Softly, carefully. If there was soap, he didn’t feel it. He was only feeling her hands on his skin. They now were on his shoulders and slowly sliding on his arms. Then, on his chest. He leaned his head against the glass wall and let out a small breath between his clenched teeth. His body was tensed and covered in goose bumps because of her touch but she didn’t stop. Her hands were rubbing his chest, brushing over his nipples and he bit the inside of his cheek when he felt himself becoming hard. He had to stay in control.

Maxence didn’t move or say anything. He stayed still and breathed slowly until it stopped tingling him. He was playing with fire at that moment but he didn’t have much of a choice. Rose was the only one able to help him in that situation and she was doing it almost professionally. She didn’t stop when she faced his erection. She washed the bottom of his body just as softly and carefully as she did the upper part. He let out a muffled groan when her fingers brushed over his sensitive dick. She looked at him and met his blue eyes. He was staring down at her and his eyes were so dark with desire for her. She stopped for a moment; letting the water flow over them.

 

“Rose,” he murmured, unable to say something else.

“Shh.”

 

She placed a finger over his lips to force him to silence. He was surprised but obeyed anyway. She was observing him, sitting there in the shower, completely naked – body and soul – and she thought that he looked beautiful. More beautiful than any other person she had ever met. She stroked his face and he closed his eyes, relaxing under her touch. He certainly hadn’t expected her lips on his, but he wasn’t gonna complain about it. He didn’t push her away, just kissed her back. His hands found their way on her hips, but the pain stopped him. Rose broke the kiss when she felt it.

 

“Sorry,” she apologized.

“Don’t be.”

“Let’s get you out of here, okay?”

 

She wouldn’t talk about that kiss. Not yet. He wasn’t in the right condition to talk about anything. So, she rinsed his body well and helped him out of the shower after she turned off the water. She wrapped herself in a towel and dried him off carefully before she helped him into clean boxers and shorts. Then, she sat him down on the toilet seat and took off the soaked bandage. She cleaned the wound and made a new bandage. She carefully helped him into his shirt. She combed his hair with her fingers and put the sling back around his neck. She threw his dirty clothes in the washing machine to take care of them later.

 

“No staying up late for you. Dinner, meds, and you go to bed.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.”

“Are we…”

“No.”

 

Rose dried herself off quickly and pulled her clothes back on. She brushed her hair and when she was done, she walked out of the bathroom with Maxence. They went to the kitchen. Dinner was ready, the table was sat and both Elliot and Tegan were waiting for them. Elliot smiled wildly when saw them back. He had saved Maxence the closest chair to him. Maxence sat down there and Rose took the last free chair. They shared the meal like a small family. And then, they all went to bed. Maxence found the strength to tell Elliot a bedtime story before he went to his own bed. Rose tucked him in and they both fell asleep, cuddling each other. No word was spoken that night.

 

×

 

Two days later, they still hadn’t talked about that kiss. Rose refused to even mention it. They were living the way they had been for months, except Rose was the one taking care of him and making sure he was recovering well. She was even sacrificing her nights when the pain woke him up to give him painkillers and keep him close to her until she fell asleep again. She would stay awake for hours just to be sure he wouldn’t wake up once again. She would just run her fingers through his hair until the morning came.

It had been one of those nights. Two nights in a row. Even when he would be fully healed, the pain might stay. But currently, it was far from being healed. They had to change the bandage every day, several times a day, and Maxence couldn’t move his arm much so he needed help for a lot of things. But today, he was doing his things on his own. It was the beginning of the afternoon. Elliot was at school, and Rose was taking a nap. Maxence had wanted to take that nap with her but he had an appointment for a re-education session and a check-up. He hadn’t told Rose because she would have insisted for coming and he wanted her to rest. As soon as she was asleep, he slipped out of the room and got ready for his appointment. He left a note on the fridge for Rose to find it whenever she would wake up from her nap.

Since he couldn’t drive, he took the bus and walked to the hospital. He was being careful, always watching around. It was stupid maybe to have refused the police protection. Nothing happened to him though. He could have his check-up – they removed the threads – and re-education session that took away all his worries to replace them with pain. It was still hard to move his arm and fingers, and they weren’t sure if he would get his full mobility back. He was quite concerned about it as he was heading back home. He had decided to walk. Walking usually helped him to clear his mind. Not this time. He was almost home when a heavy rock hit his wounded shoulder. The shock and pain made him lost his balance long enough for someone to catch him from behind and pin him against a wall. His head hit it causing more pain to him. He could feel someone’s hot breath brushing over his skin. The voice that followed made him freeze.

 

“Lon’ time no see, Spitz! Ya don’t look good, mate!”

 

Maxence clenched his teeth as the pain crushed through him. Jimmy Stone had definitely chosen his moment to come back in his life. He was pressing on his wound and the pain was irradiating in Maxence’s whole body and paralysing him. He couldn’t defend himself with his body pinned against the wall, his face pressed against the stone.

 

“Ya bin lucky! I miss’d mah shot. Wanted ya dead, meh.”

 

Obviously. Maxence was cursing himself for being an idiot. Of course, it had to be Jimmy Stone out of all the enemies he had. All of those months spent on alert because of him and when something happened, they completely forgot about him. He had taken his time to prepare his revenge. But he had missed his shot and now, he was taking another chance.

 

“Where did ya hide’em?”

“I won’t tell you.”

“Ya gunna die!”

“That was the original plan, right?”

 

Jimmy put his hand in Maxence’s pockets and pulled out his wallet. He found what he was looking for: he read Maxence’s address on his ID and kept it in mind. He took all the money there was in and put the wallet back in Maxence’s pocket. He grabbed the man’s hair and banged his head against the wall. Maxence groaned at the pain and chose that moment to counterattack. He managed to knock Jimmy out and ran away. He went straight to his flat. He was dishevelled, his hair was messy, his eyebrow arch was bleeding and he was out of breath.

 

“Maxence?” Rose called out, worried.

 

Both mother and son were looking at him half surprised, half worried. Rose walked to him and put her fingers in the blood. The lawyer winced and gently took her hand. They had no time to waste. He grabbed Elliot’s hand and almost run to the room he was working in. He pushed one of his heavy bookcases full of law books and revealed a door behind it.

 

“Maxence, what’s happening?!”

“He’s found me and he’s got my address.”

“Who?”

“Jimmy Stone.”

 

Rose went white at the name and Elliot clang to his mother’s hand. The name was terrifying them but knowing that he might come there to finish what he had started was worse. Maxence slid the door open and blocked the lift door.

 

“I have a panic room. You’ll be safe in there.”

“And you?”

“There’s a phone down there. Call the police. I’ll keep him busy.”

“I can’t accept that.”

“I’ll come to you as soon as it’ll be done. Call the police. It’ll be alright.”

 

He pushed the blonde and her son in the lift. Elliot gripped the sleeve of his jacket. He didn’t want Maxence to face Jimmy. Maxence knelt down at the boy’s height.

 

“Remember the promise I’ve made to you months ago?” Elliot nodded. “I need your help this time. I need you to go down with mummy and call the police. You tell them my name and that the guy who hurt me is here. They will come. They’ll be here before he hurts me again.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

 

Maxence hugged the little boy who went back into the lift. He took his mother’s hand and promised to protect her. Rose was about to hug Maxence but he let go of the door which closed. She just had the time to murmur him to be careful before the doors were closed and the lift started going down. She didn’t know Maxence had a panic room but she assumed that with the job he was doing, it was necessary. She just hoped that Jimmy wouldn’t hurt him too badly before the police arrived. But she could only wait now.

 

Maxence barely had the time to slide the door shut and to push the bookcase back – which left him quite tired – that he heard the front door being knocked down. Jimmy Stone was there and he wasn’t discreet at all. He was yelling for Rose to come out and face him. But it was Maxence who came. Exhausted, in pain, but ready to protect Rose, to gain some time until the police was there.

 

“Spitz! Where ya hidin’ her?!”

“Once again, I won’t tell you.”

“Better do!”

“Better get out of here. You’re on my property.”

“I don’t care!”

 

If he had to fight the Spitz guy, he would do it. But the lawyer was clever and in his home. He would win easily. However, Jimmy was feeling brave because of the last shot of drugs he took. So he ran straight to Maxence who avoided the punch. He would make the junky run and miss him as much as possible. It was funny to watch him fail over and over again only to get back on his feet and try again. The man was determined, they couldn’t take that away from him.

Nevertheless, Maxence was the first one to show his weakness. He had just a second of inattention and Jimmy took advantage of it. He punched Maxence’s shoulder. The wave of pain bewildered Maxence. He had lost his advantage. Jimmy had touched his weak point. From now on, he could only protect himself the best he could and take the blows. Jimmy was having fun obviously. He was laughing whenever he was feeling his fists and feet hitting Maxence’s flesh and groaning when he was hit.

 

“Ya can’t win, Spitz!”

“Don’t speak too fast, Stone,” groaned Maxence. “I’m not dead yet.”

“Ya gunna be! Ya and dat bitch!”

“What are you waiting for then? Do it!”

 

Maxence knew he had no chance to win that fight. Not in the condition he was in. He kicked Jimmy’s legs and pushed him away from him. He crawled back until he felt strong enough to get back on his feet. He was surprised that Jimmy hadn’t counterattacked yet. He leaned on the wall. His whole body was hurting. He was in a need of painkillers and rest, but he couldn’t abandon. Not now. He heard Jimmy rummaging about in the kitchen and coming back. The end of the fight was coming. Jimmy faced Maxence. He was smiling perniciously and was holding a huge kitchen knife in hand. Despite his condition, Maxence had managed to ravage the little brat pretty well. He let him come closer, but as soon as he was close enough, the lawyer grabbed his wrist for the knife not to be used against him. He was cornered, and wouldn’t hold on too long like that.

Jimmy was waiting for the moment Maxence would let go. His grip on his wrist was desperate, but his hand was wet with blood and sweat and it was slipping. Jimmy wasn’t very clever and his brain was completely ruined by the alcohol and drugs he was taking, but he knew how to wait for the right time. Maxence’s arm was trembling and the blade was getting dangerously close to his stomach. Where was the police?

 

“Ya lost!”

“Police! Let go of that knife!”

 

Jimmy tried harder to stab Maxence but he was stopped by a sudden electrical discharge  that ran through his body. His hand opened and the knife fell to the ground. Maxence kicked it away as Jimmy fell to his knees, floored by the shock. Two officers pinned his shaking body down and handcuffed him. Maxence sighed in relief and slid down the wall. He closed his eyes. That was over. Jimmy was taken away by the police and paramedics were taking care of the lawyer. That was really over. Finally.

 

×

 

The lift had taken them to some bunker underground. It was a real fortress with food, beds, a phone, meds and a CCTV that wasn’t working. Not that Rose could see at least. She had tried everything to make the screen work and show her how it was going on up there but nothing worked and she had stopped trying. Since then, she was laying on a bed, biting her nails to blood with how anxious she was for Maxence. Elliot was cuddling into her. He was also worried sick and the silence of their surroundings wasn’t helping their minds to think about something else. They could only worry and hope that Maxence was alright, that Jimmy hadn’t hurt him more. Or worse. They both refused to imagine the worst. It just couldn’t happen.

Rose suddenly sat up when she heard the lift coming down their way. Her heart was beating painfully because of the fear clutching at it. Was it Maxence? Was he coming back for them? Was he gonna tell them that it was over? Elliot grabbed his mother’s hand and held it tight. They were staring at the lift’s doors, waiting for them to open and reveal the passenger of that travel. There was a beep when the lift finally was there and a sigh of relief escaped them when Maxence stepped out of it.

 

“It’s over,” he simply said.

 

Mother and son didn’t need more. They ignored Maxence’s bruises and cuts and ran to hug him. They were so glad to have him back alive. He hugged them back as they cried into his chest. Saying more was useless. Maxence being there was enough for them to understand. The threat Jimmy Stone had been taken down. They could start living again. They didn’t have to be afraid anymore. Finally, Rose and Elliot were safe and that was all they could ask for after so many years of fear and insecurities.


End file.
